Latest news with #JamesDeering
ABC News
23-06-2025
- ABC News
Jacob John Dwyer jailed for seven-and-a-half years for shooting death of James Deering in Wooroloo
A man who shot dead a father-of-two in an incident that triggered an emergency lockdown in Perth's east has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail. Jacob John Dwyer, who is now 37, shot James Peter Deering in Wooroloo in November 2023. The incident forced the area into lockdown for several hours, as police searched for those they believed were linked to the shooting. Residents were asked to stay inside and to keep their doors locked. Dwyer was sentenced in Perth's Supreme Court on Monday and will be made eligible for parole after serving five-and-a-half-years of his term — which was backdated to November 2023.
Business Insider
10-06-2025
- Business Insider
Take a look inside Vizcaya, the 45,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion near the heart of Miami
Vizcaya was James Deering's winter home from 1916 until his death in 1925. Struggling with illness toward the end of his life, James Deering came to Miami, then a small city surrounded by mangrove forests and wetlands, looking for tropical warmth, which was believed to help improve health. By the turn of the century, the Deering family had begun to develop estates around South Florida, with patriarch William Deering purchasing a home in Coconut Grove in 1900. By the time James Deering began building Vizcaya, his brother, Charles Deering, was also developing a winter home in the south of Miami. The property, known today as Deering Estate, also operates as a museum and is open to the public. The main house features 54 rooms, including 34 rooms decorated with their original furniture. Expanding over 45,225 square feet, Vizcaya's main house features the living spaces of James Deering himself, his guests, and the house staff. Envisioned by interior designer Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya took inspiration from the Italian Renaissance adapted to South Florida's subtropical climate, and showcases furniture, artworks, and artifacts purchased by Chalfin and Deering on their travels to Europe. Although Miami's population was estimated to be only 10,000 in 1916, the construction of the Vizcaya estate employed an estimated 1,000 workers, many of whom were Black immigrants from the Bahamas. Apart from the main house, Vizcaya is also home to the Vizcaya Village, the historic quarters of the mansion's workers and farmers that allowed Vizcaya to serve as a self-sufficient farm-to-table estate. The Village expands over 12 acres and includes 11 "architecturally significant" buildings, according to the museum's website. The tour begins in the courtyard, which is adorned with tropical plants. Lined with tropical plants like palms and philodendrons, the courtyard highlights South Florida's natural beauty while adhering to the mansion's European inspirations. While today the courtyard is covered by a glass canopy that allows for the estate's air conditioning, it was originally open to the elements, allowing the tropical climate to seep into the main house. Meant to be used as Vizcaya's main entrance, the East Loggia opens up to the Biscayne Bay. Featuring marble floors and columns and decorated ceilings, the East Loggia was meant to serve as Vizcaya's main entrance for guests arriving by sea, which was Deering's intended — and preferred — way of entering the mansion. It was used as an entrance for guests who arrived by boat, while the current main entrance of the museum was used as a back entrance for guests arriving by car. The room also features a model boat hanging from its ceiling in honor of the explorers who inspired Deering's interpretation of Vizcaya. Although he began living in Vizcaya during his retirement, Deering included multiple working spaces in the property. James Deering was heir to the International Harvester manufacturing firm, which produced tractors and other agricultural machinery, and he worked as its vice president from 1902 until 1909. Deering might have been one of the first prominent Florida "snowbirds," retirees who travel South during the colder months. His downstairs library, located in the northwest corner of the main house, is located steps from the entrance hall that welcomes guests. It features Deering's personal book collection, desks for him and a secretary, and seats for business guests. When closed, the door leading to the next room — a reception room meant for entertaining guests — is concealed within the book-lined walls. The reception room features a ceiling imported from Venice, which had to be resized to fit. The reception room is lined with tropical-inspired silk panels showing palm trees. Our tour guide brought our attention to the ceiling, which is decorated with sculpted panels that extend to the sides of the room. The ceiling was imported from Venice and purchased before construction on the property was finished. By the time workers were putting up the decorations in the mansion, they realized that the ceiling panel did not fit the room dimensions, leading to the restructuring of the panel, which curved into the walls. "We should remember that this house was built during the First World War," curator Flaminia Gennari said in the audio tour. "So to import large quantities from Italy in the middle of the war was very complicated." Vizcaya's telephone line was one of the first in Miami. Wired throughout the house, Vizcaya features a highly innovative telephone system for the time. Only 17 years before the beginning of Vizcaya's construction did the Miami Telephone Company begin providing telephone service to the city. Vizcaya's telephones also featured automatic electric exchange, allowing users to connect directly to the number they dialed without going through a human operator. The telephone room, located between two of Vizcaya's main entertainment rooms, was meant for guests to communicate privately without disturbing the flow of the entertainment. The living room showcased Deering's most impressive collections. The living room, with its 1600s limestone fireplace, features some of Vizcaya's most impressive items, including an "admiral carpet" originally commissioned in the 1450s by the grandfather of King Ferdinand II of Spain, the Spanish king who sponsored Christopher Columbus' exploration of the Americas. The room also features throne-like armchairs where US President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II sat in 1987 during the Pope's visit to America. A centerpiece of the room is the Welte Philharmonic Organ, which was meant to fill the house with music through elaborate sound systems. Designed for guests rather than full-time professional players, the organ uses perforated paper rolls to aid the musicians' performance by adjusting notes and volume. Concealing the organ pipes is an oil painting, which was cut in half to cover wooden doors. "Chalfin had the idea of cutting it in half and using it as the doors of the organs, which is not a very respectful thing to do for a representation of the Virgin Mary, the child, and the saints, but it somehow testifies to the freedom and positive carelessness that they had around old objects," Gennari said in the audio tour. The mansion's formal dining room features the house's oldest artifacts, although it was rarely used. While Deering himself didn't eat in the formal dining room often, he made sure that the room was impressively decorated for his guests. Sitting to the side is the room's most awe-inspiring feature: a marble tabletop sitting on carved bases resembling mythical creatures, which were historical artifacts unearthed near Pompeii, dating back to the times before Mount Vesuvius' eruption. Next to the dining room, on the south side of the mansion, the enclosed loggia gave guests a view of the gardens. The colorful glass panels, designed for Vizcaya, feature the estate's main symbols: the seahorse and the caravan. Providing a view of the garden through the glass panels and double doors, the enclosed loggia allowed guests to take in the garden views while staying cool from the Florida sun. The loggia also connects the gardens to the main house through sculpted iron gates. Aside from giving guests an inside view of the gardens from the ground level, the room also connects the outdoors to the rest of the mansion. Downstairs, the kitchen worked as a serving space for staff to plate food and bring it to guests. When designing Vizcaya, Deering asked for the main kitchen to be built upstairs as he didn't want the smell of food to flood the main entertaining rooms on the first floor. To facilitate the transportation of meals and the serving of guests to the dining room, the entertaining rooms, and the loggia, he built a downstairs serving pantry. Today, the serving pantry cabinets display one set of Deering's fine dining china, the one designated for his 80-foot-long luxury yacht, Nepenthe. Commissioned in 1912 to be shipped from Europe, the original set of china purchased by Deering was transported to America as cargo aboard the Titanic. After the ship sank, a replacement set was ordered and is now displayed. The kitchens feature state-of-the-art Gilded Age technology. Throughout the house, Deering incorporated cutting-edge technology, including annunciators with bells connected throughout the house that Deering or guests could ring at any time to get the house staff's attention. Another then-advanced feature of the serving kitchen were its refrigerators, which were rare at the time. The kitchen also featured a warming oven that helped keep food warm while guests were served. Connecting to the upstairs kitchen, which serves as the house's main cooking area, was a dumbwaiter: a food elevator meant to carry the food cooked upstairs to the downstairs plating area, where staff would then take it to the main entertaining rooms, like the dining and sitting rooms. Upstairs, 24 rooms housed guests, staff, and Deering himself. Nine of the bedrooms were dedicated to guests and each was given a name and decorated uniquely, showcasing the artifacts and furniture purchased by Deering and Chalfin on trips to Europe. While not open to the public, an additional 14 rooms housed staff. Another then-advanced technological feature of Vizcaya was its elevator. Deering was motivated to move to South Florida because of his illness, so accessibility features were built throughout the house, such as the elevator he would take when using a wheelchair or to avoid walking upstairs. Today, the elevator isn't open to the public, and the museum's second floor is not wheelchair accessible. Deering's main office was inspired by the Napoleonic era. Connected to Deering's bedroom and bathroom, the sitting room was his office where he would tend to business and personal matters, such as sorting his mail. The decoration style was inspired by Napoleonic France. Deering's bedroom was modest compared to some of his guest bedrooms. His personal bathroom has one of the most breathtaking views of the property. Opening up to a balcony, Deering's bathroom looks over Biscayne Bay and has one of the best views of the house, although it is not accessible to the public today. The closed-off balcony also leads to a secret door to the Espagnolette, the guest bedroom located next to his, usually reserved for Deering's dearest guests. Spiral staircases lead to the South tower. A set of spiral staircases leads up to the South tower, one of the two guest suites overlooking the estate. The tower bedroom has views of the bay and the gardens. The corner room atop the North tower was designed to transport guests to Europe. "Water reflects upwards to the ceiling and the sound of waves is audible in this room, precisely as upon the quay of this great canal of Venice," noted Chalfin about the room, according to the mansion's website. A central piece in the room is a large wardrobe assembled with 1700s Venetian panels, as well as the antique painted closet doors. The breakfast room was Deering's preferred dining space. Back on the second floor, the breakfast room was the central entertaining spot. The room is lined with oil paintings depicting ocean scenes, and the windows slide into pocket doors, revealing views of the garden. It also features a sound system, with a piano hidden away in a room off the spiral staircase next door and connected to the breakfast room through floor vents that allow sound to travel into the space. Most times, Deering opted to dine in this room rather than the formal dining space. Tucked next to the breakfast room is the main kitchen. Designed to maximize staff efficiency, the main kitchen upstairs has different areas for different tasks, including separate sinks for washing dishes and produce. It also features ice boxes, or refrigerators of the time, powered by salt water. During Deering's time at the estate, Vizcaya employed two French chefs dedicated to food and pastries. Food served at the mansion was sourced from the staff village built across the street, where a farm provided vegetables, dairy, chicken, herbs, and citrus. "You and I could come down and drive into the farm area, stop and buy a dozen Deering eggs and take them home and have them for breakfast, and I think that was probably particularly important during World War I," historian Arva Moore Parks said in the audio tour. "He was able to supply not only himself but his workers also." Inspired by European designs, the gardens feature mazes, terraces, fountains, and more. Inspired by 17th- and 18th-century Italian and French villas, the Vizcaya gardens feature a variety of scenes, from a garden theater to multiple paths and mazes, intended to highlight and enhance the native South Florida flora surrounding the estate. The original layout of Vizcaya featured over 180 acres of subtropical forests. Today, that number has gone down to 50 acres. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan hosted Pope John Paul II at the estate. On September 10, 1987, President Ronald Reagan welcomed Pope John Paul II at Vizcaya, where the two conversed while exploring the gardens and the estate. Atop a garden mount is the Casino, a focal point of the gardens. Located at the top of garden mounds designed to block the reflection of water ponds into the main house, the garden casino — Italian for "little house" — was a space where Deering and his guests could take in the garden views or enjoy the subtropical weather without being in direct contact with the sun. Inside the building, a painted ceiling depicts heavenly images. Underneath, bathrooms and other now closed-off areas hide under decorated ceilings. Originally, the casino overlooked a water park part of the estate, where gondolas would be launched, a crucial part of Deering's vision for Vizcaya. Today, the water park no longer exists, and the land is instead taken up by a Catholic church, hospital, and schools after the Deering family sold part of the property to the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine in 1946. The opposite side of the estate was once used for clandestine entertainment; now, it is a café. While today a café sits underneath the mansion, the space served as a leisure center during Deering's stay. The rooms were filled with billiard tables, bowling alleys, and leather chairs. Hidden underneath the billiards table was also a roulette table, which Deering often used when his college friends visited the estate. The mansion, which opened at the peak of the Prohibition era, also had a decent supply of liquor, which Deering smuggled into the estate and hid in secret bars and cellars. The swimming pool is half-covered, providing relief from South Florida's relentless sun. Tucked next to the leisure rooms underneath the main house is the half-indoor swimming pool, in which Deering is said to have only swum once. Designed as the main entry point to the mansion, the east side of the mansion opens up to a stone barge in the Biscayne Bay. When he first moved into his winter home in December 1916, Deering arrived by sea on what he intended was the front entrance to Vizcaya. Opening up to the Biscayne Bay, the waterfront side of the property features a stone barge, a sculpted structure that acts as a breakwater and protects the main house from changing tides and waves. Today, the mansion hosts private events and has become a local staple for Quinceañera pictures. Purchased from the Deering family by Miami-Dade County for $1 million in 1962, Vizcaya today operates as a museum open to the public and for private reservations. The estate is often the background of Quinceañera pictures from Miami's large Hispanic population. Walking around the gardens, I saw multiple young women dressed in extravagant gowns posing in the many stunning locations of the estate. Along with being a photographic hot spot, Vizcaya also hosts private events, from Miami Swim Week runway shows to floral-decorated weddings in the gardens. Today, the estate remains an icon of Miami, a city that many would often relate to modern luxury rather than the old and classic wealth on display in Gilded Age -style mansions like Vizcaya.
ABC News
09-06-2025
- ABC News
Jacob John Dwyer admits killing James Peter Deering in Wooroloo shooting
A man has pleaded guilty to shooting dead a father-of-two in an incident that triggered an emergency lockdown of a suburb on Perth's eastern fringe. Jacob John Dwyer, who's now 37, shot James Peter Deering in Wooroloo in November, 2023. The incident forced the area into lockdown for several hours, as police searched for two men they believed were linked to the shooting. Residents were asked to stay inside and to keep their doors locked. At the time, police said they had gone to a home on Needham Road in Wooroloo, where a 32-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound to the head. He was flown to Royal Perth Hospital where he died. Dwyer was charged with murder but in the WA Supreme Court this morning, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The court heard that the statement of facts related to the case had been agreed to by the prosecution and the defence, but they were not read out. Dwyer will appear in court for a sentencing hearing on June 23.
Miami Herald
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
As Florida curbs LGBTQ rights, queer teens gather for prom at Miami's Vizcaya Museum
They Cupid Shuffled. They whipped and nae-nae'd. They shook it like a Polaroid picture. But this was not a regular prom: it was an extravaganza on a terrace overlooking Biscayne Bay. On Saturday night, the gardens of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens were taken over by LGBTQ students from around Miami — about 96 in total — for the first prom ever held at the iconic waterfront estate. The theme: 'Into the Garden.' They wore everything from purple corduroy pants and platform sneakers to baby blue ball gowns that matched the evening sky above Biscayne Bay. Many had never seen Vizcaya before. The estate was built in the early 20th century by James Deering. Paul Chalfin, a queer artist, helped build the villa. Chalfin lived with his male partner on a houseboat docked at the property. For Artemis Cruz, 17, who just graduated from José Martí MAST, the night was more than a party. 'I'm pretty excited because it's kind of history,' he said. 'This is the first time I had a big idea and it came to fruition,' said the student, who was one of the students who came up with the idea for the prom. Cruz said he had once gone to a queer prom at a library. 'It was 'eh,'' he said. He skipped his school's prom because he didn't feel comfortable in that environment. Cruz was not the only one who was excited to have prom at such an iconic location. 'I wasn't ready for this much amazement,' said Nicole De Souza, 18, who arrived a bit late, not knowing how beautiful Vizcaya would be. 'It's so pretty! I love it! I wish I wore my actual dress. It's like a dream come true!' De Souza, who just graduated from Pompano Beach High School, wore a floor-length teal sequin gown. But it wasn't enough. She wished she wore the quinceañera-style ball gown she wore to her school's prom. Ludwin Arauz, 18, who just graduated from Felix Varela High School, was close to having gone to high school and never attend prom at all. 'I never cared for it… but, this place is actually insane, I've never seen anything like this.' The 'queer prom,' as students were calling it, was organized by Safe Schools South Florida, a nonprofit founded in 1991 to support gay students. Historically, the organization would provide teacher training's, work with individual schools' Gay-Straight Alliance clubs, and host an annual empowerment day — where students would get a permission slip to leave school and attend a district-wide event with games and motivational speakers. School buses provided by the district would transport them. But now, nearly all of Safe Schools' programming happens outside the school district's purview. Since the passage of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act — or the 'Don't Say Gay' law — signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022, Miami-Dade schools have largely stepped back from visible support for LGBTQ students. Even a symbolic resolution to recognize LGBTQ History Month was rejected by the school board for the past three years. The state has imposed restrictions on classroom discussions of gender and sexuality, and banned access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors. Yariel Genao, a junior, had planned to arrive in style — but had a mishap. 'So I was in the car, and when I got out, I felt my sole touch the floor — oh no…' His gold heels had broken completely. He entered Vizcaya with bare feet and his shoes in hand. 'I don't know how I am going to tell her,' he said of the friend he borrowed them from. At the green screen photo booth in the plant-filled courtyard, Jessica Lam, a trans woman who 'has been a member of the community before there was a community,' was running the booth. She listed off the backdrop options: 'You can be in outer space!' she said, or, 'You can go to Paris.' The group chose the flaming background. 'Act like we're burning!' said one friend. Lam texted them the photo. As they laughed at the photo, one friend joked, 'Us going to hell after going to queer prom.' Latisha Buffenoir, 18, showed up with a group of 10 friends, all picked up in a black car provided by the event. She wore black pants, dress shoes, and a vest. Her date, Abigail Chico, wore a petticoat, corset, and lingerie top — all in the style of the Gilded Age. Her friend Evelyn Ventura wore a corset her mom got her from Spain. The music was handled by DJ Citizen Jane, an openly gay DJ who kept the dance floor full with a mix of Chappell Roan, Kendrick Lamar, and throwbacks from the 2010s. Although the music was a bit too loud for some students, who wore earphones and earplugs. 'It's loud, but yay gay people!' said Lin Sutton, a home school student who brought a small notepad and was sketching the architecture of the building as they waited for the dinner banquet portion of the event to begin. 'I'm just grateful for this to exist,' said Sutton. At the end of the event, they crowned nine students Kings, Queens and Monarchs, using a sound meter to measure which contestant received the most enthusiastic response. The 'monarch' category was created to provide a category for non-binary students. 'We are not banging our head against the door, we are going to do things without the school boards help,' said Scott Galvin, the executive director and former elected official. 'Yes, it was a heavy financial lift to go to Vizcaya, but I wanted to do it there because other queer proms are at an Elks Lodge or a library. I wanted these kids who are not being celebrated as much right now, to have a first class prom experience.' 'That is pure queer joy,' said Harold Marrero, the chief operating officer for the organization, watching the students dance after they finished their dinner. He added the event was a testament to the fact that 'we are not going to hide, go back in the closet or go underground, and we are going to enjoy the freedoms we have worked so hard to obtain.'
