The Cà d'Zan shimmers on the skyline like a ghost from a grander time. Photo courtesy of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida.
32 Rms W Vu
A beachfront cottage or an airy downtown penthouse would be nice, I admit, but when it comes to fantasizing about my move-up house, give me the fantastical C?d'Zan any day.
Built by circus impresario John Ringling and his wife Mable from 1924 through 1926, the C?d'Zan is an over-the-top Italianate palazzo with enough Venetian Renaissance decorative details to make a permanent testament to Ringling's zestful credo that more is more.
The location, on a broad expanse of Sarasota Bay, is to die for, and the surrounding banyans, palms and other such tropical plants evoke an earlier, grander time when the grounds of great estates seemed to roll on forever.
A bargain to build at $1.5 million, the C?d'Zan was willed to the state of Florida at Ringling's death and became part of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art complex. A six-year, $15 million renovation completed in 2002 returned the great home to its original splendor. Everything from the ornate painted ceilings to the inlaid marble floors was painstakingly repaired or replaced by a team of highly skilled specialists drawn from all over the country.
So impressive was the restoration, the A&E television network included the C?d'Zan in a feature called America's Castles, placing it in esteemed company with such other great homes of the Gilded Age as The Breakers in Palm Beach and William Randolph Hearst's legendary San Simeon.
More than 325,000 people visit the C?d'Zan, along with the rest of the museum complex, every year, and you can, too; it's open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Call (941) 351-1660 or visit www.ringling.org.