In my last two posts (here and here), I looked at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. Also on the grounds of the Ringling estate is the home of John and Mable Ringling, a Gilded Age mansion facing Sarasota Bay (and beyond that, the Gulf of Mexico). The Ca’ d’Zan – in the Venetian dialect, “John’s House” – was constructed in 1924-1926. The style is “Venetian Gothic”, but it shows a lot of Moorish influence. That’s probably because in the heyday of their naval power, the Venetians traded widely all around the Mediterranean, with Muslims as well as Christians.
Many of America’s surviving Gilded Age mansions passed through several hands after their original owners died, shedding original interior decor and furnishings in the process. But when John Ringling died in 1936, he bequeathed his mansion with all its furnishings to the people of Florida. The Ca’ d’Zan is therefore a rare chance to see a Gilded Age mansion as it was conceived and lived in by the original owners.
Once the Ca’ d’Zan is allowed to have its docents back on site, I’m looking forward to seeing the second floor of the mansion.
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Next week I’ll be continuing my series on the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
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