Vizcaya: Giudecca

The Southeast tower holds 2 guest rooms which share a bath. Giudecca, shown here, is simpler than the rooms downstairs but no less elegant. The centerpiece is, again, a magnificent canopied bed.I love the decorative plaster work on the walls highlighted in mint green and tan, so evocative of the time period. The room is named after an island in Venice as it overlooks the Venetian-styled bridges and ornaments along the waterfront.At the foot of the bed (raised on a platform for some reason) are two Louis Vuitton traveling trunks. I suppose guests would need to pack a lot because they would never want to leave!

Custom calligraphy

Recently while reading through my daily bloglist, I saw a post on Matters of Style mention a local etsy crafter who did custom stamps in calligraphy. I thought this would be a great idea to do a small stamp of my name on the front page of the books in my library. It came in the mail yesterday and I couldn't be happier with it!

I dealt with Trialbycupcakes, who was so easy to work with and let me create the stamp sans address. Thats one of the great things about etsy, you're generally dealing with people who work out of their homes as a small business and they can help you get what you're looking for. I will probably use the stamp for other uses as well, but now time to head to the store to get an assortment of different colored stamp pads!

Vizcaya: Galleon guest suite

The main guest suite at Vizcaya is in the opposite corner of Mr. Deerings offering views of both Viscayne Bay and the Formal Gardens. Occupying the physical corner is the sitting room named Galleon after the shipping vessels which inspired the house.

The wood walls are painted to imitate marble and display a collection of 18th century Italian landscape paintings. As throughout the rest of the house, the diverse decorations include 18th century Italian and English furniture with a French Savonnerie carpet.

This extravagant suite seems like an amazing place to stay for Deering's guest of honor -wouldn't you say?

Vizcaya: Espagnolette

One of the most feminine guest rooms at Vizcaya is named Espagnolette. All of the guest suites were named after historical characters from literature and feature different design styles. Each suite comfortably features a bathroom and ample walk in closet.

This bedroom has access to Mr. Deering's bedroom suite via the balcony so one suspects that his most special female guests were invited to stay, if you get my drift. The room's name fittingly refers to a young decolletee woman from the 18th century, such as the ones depicted by Watteau. While he never married and remained deeply private about his personal affairs, Deering is known to have had several mistresses throughout his lifetime and certainly they were invited to stay at Vizcaya and probably in this suite. Chalfin chose to decorate the room in a romantic Venetian interpretation of French Rococo style. The room features an antique period mantelpiece but the centerpiece remains the magnificent canopied bed.