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The Villa Casa Casuarina
HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY
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). Alden dreamed of living in a bohemian society with all of his friends from local areas such as Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. In addition, on his many trips abroad he would meet fascinating people and always invite them to hang out in his beautiful home here in Miami Beach.
Legend maintains that Casa Casuarina was the original name given to the house when it was built in 1930 as homage to the only remaining tree in the lot after the 1926 hurricane that hit South Florida. Freeman was forced to cut down the tree in order to make room for the construction of his new house. Casuarina esquisetifolia is the botanical name of the tropical tree popularly known as the “Australian Pine”.
HISTORICAL ITEMS
Vuchinich was one of Freeman’s protégés and was listed in Who’s who in American Art when this statue was first seen in a Sculpture exhibit in San Francisco in 1929.
The kneeling Aphrodite sat in the courtyard until Jacque Amsterdam moved it to the front of the house to welcome people with love. Walking into the Courtyard: On the left wall of the staircase, you will see a circle with a medusa in it. The medallion is meant to symbolize the shield of Perseus, who be-headed Medusa and put it on his shield to protect him when he went into battle. He later gave this shield as a gift to Athena, the goddess of all the gods to keep her protected from evil spirits.