It’s likely the home’s most photographed spot because few are allowed to continue past the threshold of the high gated entry. That’s not just because of the macabre fascination of the murder the manhunt for Versace’s killer Andrew Cunanan, who slayed five people in a spree that ended with Versace or the pop culture references to it that just seem to continue, including last year’s appearance in FX’s American Crime Story, which recently won a Golden Globe for best television limited series. Once designer Gianni Versace’s home, the converted boutique hotel is situated on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. It’s there, where he was slain in 1997, that has become the most famed section of what might be among the world’s most photographed residences. Perhaps it’s the coquina steps out front that you picture first when thinking about Versace’s home. And for a steep price, you can be among the few to take in the heavens just like Versace. The Villa Casa Casuarina, it’s now officially called. It’s not hard to picture him, maybe adorned in a housecoat and slippers of his own design, escaping into his imagination in the sky above his Miami Beach mansion, on Ocean Drive. The founder of the Italian fashion house that bore his name would direct a telescope through the opening of his observatory and take in the moon and the stars. It’s here that Gianni Versace would spend his evenings. Above that begins an arched ceiling, azure blue, dotted with twinkling gold stars between vertical stripes bringing your gaze upward. From the bench, the walls of the domed room are finished first in brick. A curved bench seat holds cushions in neon blue velour and throw pillows the color of moonlight. In a tight space no bigger than a walk-in closet, a porthole window not far off the floor lets in morning sun reflected off the ocean. A hand-painted tile promises what’s to follow: “Observatory.”Īt the top of the stairs awaits a fairytale, a daydream of an artist. A low slung ceiling requires a near acrobatic contortion to fit. Moroccan inlays along the bottom of the wall lead the way. Styling by Cresta Bledsoe Makeup and hair by Jesus Bravo Photography by Mary Beth Koeth Model Caroline Krystoff at The Villa Casa Casuarina wearing dress by Très Nomad and 18K dueling Malachite Shield cuffs by Cresta Bledsoe Fine Jewelry.
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