HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot and killed on the front steps of this Ocean Drive mansion on July 15, 1997 — the property now operates as a 10-room luxury boutique hotel
1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$$
Overnight rates from approximately $678–$1,111 per night. Dinner at Gianni's restaurant available to non-hotel guests by reservation.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved Ocean Drive sidewalk; interior courtyard accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1930 · Site of Gianni Versace Murder, July 15, 1997 · Miami Beach Art Deco / Mediterranean Revival Architecture · Andrew Cunanan Serial Killing Spree
Casa Casuarina was commissioned in 1930 by Alden Freeman, heir to a Standard Oil fortune, as a private mansion modeled on the Alcázar de Colón in Santo Domingo. Freeman incorporated coral rock salvaged from 19th-century Miami buildings into the construction and designed the interior courtyard as an intellectual gathering space. The Mediterranean Revival structure stood as a private residence for decades.
Gianni Versace, the Italian fashion designer, purchased the property in 1992 for nearly $10 million. He invested approximately $32 million in renovations, demolishing the adjacent Revere Hotel to create extensive gardens and installing the pool that became the house's most recognizable feature: approximately 24-karat gold tiles crafted in Italy, covering the entire pool interior. Versace used the mansion as his primary Miami residence and a setting for fashion events.
On July 15, 1997, at approximately 8:44 AM, Versace returned to the mansion from the News Cafe at 800 Ocean Drive. Andrew Cunanan, who had been identified as a suspect in several murders across the United States over the preceding weeks, was waiting on the front steps. Cunanan shot Versace twice with a .40 caliber handgun; Versace died on the coral stone entrance steps of his home. Cunanan was found dead eight days later on a houseboat in Miami Beach from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The murder prompted a significant review of the FBI's fugitive tracking procedures.
The property was auctioned in 2013 following foreclosure proceedings and purchased by the Nakash family — founders of Jordache Jeans — for $41.5 million. It opened as The Villa Casa Casuarina, a 10-room boutique luxury hotel. The Gianni's restaurant on premises serves dinner to both hotel guests and outside reservations.
Sources
Casa Casuarina is included on several Miami Beach ghost tour routes. US Ghost Adventures and other operators cite it as a location where Versace's presence has been reported by guests and staff. The accounts are consistent with properties that have hosted sudden violent death: temperature anomalies in specific rooms, a sense of being watched near the pool, and reports of a male figure near the entrance staircase.
The property's operators do not advertise or market paranormal claims — the hotel presents itself as a luxury accommodation. The dark tourism draw operates entirely through the fame of the murder, which occurred on a public sidewalk and is one of the most widely documented celebrity killings of the twentieth century.
Andrew Cunanan's precise movements in the weeks before the murder, including his extended time in Miami Beach without detection despite being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, remain a subject of ongoing analysis in true crime writing. The question of how he was not apprehended before reaching Versace's door has never been fully resolved.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Ten suites in the former Versace Mansion, each with Italian marble bathrooms and custom furnishings. Access to the gold-tiled mosaic pool installed by Versace, rooftop terrace, and daily cooked-to-order breakfast. The front steps where the murder occurred on July 15, 1997 are visible from the public sidewalk of Ocean Drive.
The front entrance at 1116 Ocean Drive — including the coral stone steps where Gianni Versace was shot on July 15, 1997 — is visible from the public sidewalk. Multiple commercial ghost tour operators in Miami Beach include the property as a stop.
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