Marion Deering McCormick and younger sister Barbara Deering Danielson inherited Vizcaya from their uncle James Deering upon his death in 1925. With her sister and husband Chauncey B. McCormick (1884–1954), Marion maintained the vast estate for several decades.

In 1944 Chauncey became the chairman of the board of the Art Institute of Chicago. Through the early 1950s he was instrumental in the management of Vizcaya’s collection of art and furnishings, and arranged gifts to public institutions, exchanges with the Deering Estate, and the transition of Vizcaya from a private estate to a public institution.

Marion Deering McCormick

6/5/1886 - 1/12/1965