Some History

The Marine Garden was also called the Peacock Garden or the Peacock Bridge because of the elaborately carved peacock-topped braided columns that flanked the bridge, created by Gaston Lachaise. These columns are now in storage awaiting restoration and replication. The pool was a constant source of aggravation for Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Artistic Director, because the tidal flow would push and pull water through the earth bottom, clouding the pool and killing the fish. This garden served as the only access from the Formal Gardens to the large and tropical looking Lagoon Gardens to the south, which were purchased and filled in by the Archdiocese of St. Augustine (now the Archidiocese of Miami) in the early 1950’s. Filling the Lagoon Gardens required so much soil that the cost nearly bankrupted the Archidiocese.

After Hurricane Wilma in 2005 the gardens were closed because of extensive damage. Vizcaya has recently stabilized and re-opened the garden to visitors.