Key Takeaways
- • The Miami-Dade County Commission voted to authorize Mayor Daniella Levine Cava or her designee to begin negotiating with billionaire Ken Griffin over relocating the 113-year-old Villa Serena from his Coconut Grove estate to Vizcaya Village, according to the Miami Herald.
- • Griffin bought the four-acre bayfront estate from Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million, then pledged $20 million to Vizcaya Museum & Gardens to help revitalize its historic farm village.
- • No negotiating timeline has been announced, and additional regulatory agency approvals remain before the move can proceed, per Vizcaya representative Charlotte Donn.
- • Villa Serena, built for William Jennings Bryan, would be relocated roughly half a mile, with Vizcaya hoping to open the house to the public.
- • The Vizcaya proposal runs parallel to Griffin's pending relocation of the 121-year-old Jackson Cottage in Brickell, which faces Historic and Environmental Preservation Board review.
Summary
The Miami-Dade County Commission has advanced billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin's plan to relocate Villa Serena, a 113-year-old Mediterranean-style house in Coconut Grove, to the grounds of Vizcaya. The commission voted to let Mayor Daniella Levine Cava or her designee begin negotiating with Griffin, according to the Miami Herald, which first reported the vote. The Herald reported no announced timeline for those negotiations.
Villa Serena currently sits on Griffin's four-acre bayfront estate, which he acquired from Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million, then the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Miami-Dade County. Arsht had restored the house and used it as a guest house. Griffin, whose net worth is estimated at $56.9 billion, announced last year plans to move the house about half a mile to Vizcaya Village, the former working campus built in 1916. He also pledged $20 million to Vizcaya Museum & Gardens to support revitalization of the 12-acre site, which includes 11 historic buildings and a planned learning center, teaching kitchen, art-making space and conservation lab. Vizcaya hopes the relocated house will eventually be open to the public.
The house is tied to William Jennings Bryan, the progressive-era politician and three-time presidential candidate who spent winters in Miami from the early 1910s and lived there year-round until his death in 1925. Historian Paul George told the Miami Herald that Bryan was one of Miami's most prominent residents of that era. Bryan later served as secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915.
Charlotte Donn, speaking for Vizcaya, said additional regulatory agency approvals remain and that the institution is pleased the effort is advancing. Vizcaya is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the nonprofit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust. Preservationist Paul George, who generally opposes moving historic buildings, said he hopes the county will handle the move carefully. Under Miami-Dade's historic-preservation ordinance, relocating a designated property requires review and approval by preservation staff or the board, and a building permit affecting a designated property cannot be issued without a Certificate of Appropriateness.
A parallel case is moving through city channels. The Miami City Commission approved Griffin's roughly $3 million purchase of the Jackson Cottage, which would give him the entire city block once the deal closes, according to the Herald. Plans call for moving the cottage to Coconut Grove, where it would remain the Dade Heritage Trust's office; that relocation awaits approval from Miami's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board, and a rejection would return the proposal to the city commission, according to CBS Miami. District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado represents the area that includes Griffin's estate and Vizcaya. No further details on the negotiating timeline or final placement within Vizcaya Village have been released.
Villa Serena currently sits on Griffin's four-acre bayfront estate, which he acquired from Adrienne Arsht in 2022 for nearly $107 million, then the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Miami-Dade County. Arsht had restored the house and used it as a guest house. Griffin, whose net worth is estimated at $56.9 billion, announced last year plans to move the house about half a mile to Vizcaya Village, the former working campus built in 1916. He also pledged $20 million to Vizcaya Museum & Gardens to support revitalization of the 12-acre site, which includes 11 historic buildings and a planned learning center, teaching kitchen, art-making space and conservation lab. Vizcaya hopes the relocated house will eventually be open to the public.
The house is tied to William Jennings Bryan, the progressive-era politician and three-time presidential candidate who spent winters in Miami from the early 1910s and lived there year-round until his death in 1925. Historian Paul George told the Miami Herald that Bryan was one of Miami's most prominent residents of that era. Bryan later served as secretary of state under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915.
Charlotte Donn, speaking for Vizcaya, said additional regulatory agency approvals remain and that the institution is pleased the effort is advancing. Vizcaya is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the nonprofit Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust. Preservationist Paul George, who generally opposes moving historic buildings, said he hopes the county will handle the move carefully. Under Miami-Dade's historic-preservation ordinance, relocating a designated property requires review and approval by preservation staff or the board, and a building permit affecting a designated property cannot be issued without a Certificate of Appropriateness.
A parallel case is moving through city channels. The Miami City Commission approved Griffin's roughly $3 million purchase of the Jackson Cottage, which would give him the entire city block once the deal closes, according to the Herald. Plans call for moving the cottage to Coconut Grove, where it would remain the Dade Heritage Trust's office; that relocation awaits approval from Miami's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board, and a rejection would return the proposal to the city commission, according to CBS Miami. District 7 Commissioner Raquel Regalado represents the area that includes Griffin's estate and Vizcaya. No further details on the negotiating timeline or final placement within Vizcaya Village have been released.
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