The Villa Casa Casuarina At The Former Versace Mansion

Casa Casuarina was built in 1930 by Alden Freeman. Alden Freeman’s father, Joel Freeman was Treasurer of The Standard Oil Trust (also known as Rockefeller’s Company) and left Alden a fabulous wealth when he passed away. That gave the young and wealthy Alden the opportunity to retire at the age of 27 from being an architect and travel all over the world. Alden was also a descendent of the Mayflower on his mother’s side and felt a very strong tie to history. Freeman, always well-travelled and very intelligent, loved the adventurous spirit of Christopher Columbus and on one of his many trips around the world, went to visit the Alcazar De Colon in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) which was built by Diego Columbus (Christopher Columbus’s Son) and is known for being the oldest residence in the western hemisphere. Alden was so inspired by the house that he decided to build his own home in Miami Beach as homage to the Alcazar De Colon and bought back 2 bricks from the house. One sits to the right hand side of the main entrance and one sits in his former house in the city of Santa Barbara, California (named the “Montarioso” estate, which was later donated to the city and was then restored and studied by the Pearl Chase Society of Santa Barbara).