If you’ve been to South Beach in Miami, you’ve probably walked past the
famous Versace mansion on Ocean Drive.  If you’re not sure whether or
not you’ve seen it,  just look for a really big mansion with an observatory on its roof, nestled between the cafes, restaurants and hotels of Ocean Drive.

Casa Casuarina, the Miami Beach, Fla., house once owned by late fashion designer Gianni Versace, is on the market for $125 million. This is also the home where Versace was murdered on the doorsteps.

South Beach is still seeing some record prices, and has barely been affected by the housing market issues other areas have seen with huge drops.

Known as Casa Casuarina, the 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom house overlooks the ocean. Gianni  Versace bought the home and its adjacent lot in 1992 for just under $10 million and then invested another $33 million in the property, adding a 6,100-square-foot south wing, a 54-foot-long mosaic-tiled pool lined with 24-karat gold, a mosaic-covered courtyard and frescoes on the home’s walls and ceilings.Gianni did an amazing job designing every inch of the home with his unique flair for detail and design!   He was killed outside the home in July 1997.

Peter Loftin, a telecom entrepreneur, purchased the property in 2000 for mere  $20 million. Which was a steal! Considering Versace  had invested over $50 million. After using it as a residence for several years, Mr. Loftin turned the home into a boutique hotel with a restaurant and opened it in late 2009 as the Villa by Barton G. While it was a boutique hotel, rooms ran as high as $18,000 per night. They would also sometimes rent out the home  for big parties.

“This is an iconic oasis for the rich-and-famous that sits in the
middle of South Beach,” Loftin said in a statement. “It’s a
one-of-a-kind property, created by a genius; that is a piece of art, and
a piece of history.”

Added real estate agent Jill Eber in statement: “The Casa Casuarina is the crown jewel of luxury real estate.”

The house was built in 1930 by architect, philanthropist,
author and political reformer Alden Freeman, and its design was inspired
by the oldest existing house in the Western Hemisphere, the “Alcazar de
Colon” in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the real estate firm said.

Coldwell Banker says Loftin preserved and maintained all of Versace’s design elements.

See more inside the house.