2019 - October 19th - Sarasota visiting The Ringling Estate and Yoder's Amish Village

Friday night, Sarasota was plummeted with rain. We played cards in the hotel as the Gulf Coast storm approached and grew more abundant during the night. Saturday morning we were unsure what to do. While at breakfast the winds came in taking the storm out of Sarasota. This was the only significant rain of our trip so we really couldn't complain. If it would have continued, our day would have been ruined! With it's passing, we decided to keep on our agenda. We went back over to Aunt Darlene's for some more conversation before bidding our farewells. We were off to the Ringling Estate and the home named Ca’ d’Zan. 

From the internet, the story of building this lovely home is most interesting. 

John Ringling was one of the five brothers who owned and operated the circus rightly called “The Greatest Show on Earth.” His success with the circus and entrepreneurial skills helped to make him, in the Roaring Twenties, one of the richest men in America, with an estimated worth of nearly $200 million. 

In 1911, John and his wife, Mable, purchased 20 acres of waterfront property in Sarasota. In 1912, they began spending winters in what was then still a small town. They became active in the community and purchased more and more real estate, at one time owning more than 25 percent of Sarasota’s total area. 

After a few years the couple decided to build a house and hired the noted New York architect Dwight James Baum to design it. Mable, who kept a portfolio filled with sketches, postcards and photos, wanted a home in the Venetian Gothic style of the palazzi in Venice, Italy, with Sarasota Bay serving as her Grand Canal. Construction began in 1924 and was completed two years later at a then staggering cost of $1.5 million. Five stories tall, the 36,000 square foot mansion has 41 rooms and 15 bathrooms. 

Mable supervised every aspect of the building, down to the mixing of the terra cotta and the glazing of the tiles. Today, the entrance to the grounds is through the Venetian gothic gateway where the Ringlings welcomed their guests to the opulent Ca’d’Zan, or “House of John” in the Venetian dialect.

To honor its owner, the Ringlings named their masterpiece home and estate Ca’d’Zan, “House of John”, in the dialect of their beloved Venice.

Walking through that Venetian gothic gateway the first building is the Ringling, The John and Mable Museum of Art. While traveling through Europe in search of acts for his circus, John Ringling, in the spirit of America’s wealthiest Gilded Age industrialists, began acquiring art and gradually built a significant collection. Soon after the completion of Ca’ d’Zan, John built a 21-gallery museum to house his treasure trove of paintings and art objects, highlighted by his collection of Old Masters. The result is the museum and a courtyard filled with replicas of Greek and Roman sculpture. Upon his death, Ringling bequeathed all to the State of Florida. It is now part of Florida State University. The Circus Museum was closed in June for renovations. It seems we are destined not to see circus museums, as when in Bridgeport, Connecticut last year, we were unable to go into the Barnum Museum as it was a closed day! Oh well, we decided to take in all we could here and walk the grounds, see the gardens, and visit the exterior of Ca’ d’Zan.

We started our leisurely stroll through the Ringling Museum Estate Complex. The 66-acre winter estate of railroad, real-estate and circus baron John Ringling and his wife, Mable is filled with statuaries, gardens, ponds and flowers.

We came to the Circus Museum building and yearned that it would be open. But not to our surprise, as posted, it was closed. There are a few of the gift shop items that would remind us of what might have been. Perhaps on another trip we can revisit.

Mable Ringling's Rose Garden is one of the loveliest, most fragrant spots on the Ringling estate - and one of the very first works of art. Completed in 1913, the garden is laid out in an Italian inspired wagon-wheel design, with flowers encircling a central gazebo. The crushed shell pathways are lined with sculptures of courting couples acquired in Europe. Interspersed among the pastoral scenes are columns which were originally connected by a trellis. 

While none of the original roses planted by Mable survive, many of the 1000 rose plants are of the same varieties that she planted. They include numerous varieties, such as Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, Granifloras, miniature roses, scrubs, and Old Garden Roses dating back to as early as 1793.

Walking out of the Rose Garden we can see Ca' d'Zan in front of us. The home of the circus king and his wife, a couple from humble mid-western origins, Ca’ d’Zan stands as a testament to the American Dream of the Roaring Twenties. Inspired by and designed in the Venetian Gothic style of the palazzos that ring the Venice canals, this dazzling palatial mansion perfectly captures the splendor and romance of the Italy the Ringlings so loved. On the walkway as we approach Ca' d'Zan is a gorgeous large tile compass next to the reflecting pool. On our right ssits the Bolger Family Reflecting Pool. The original swimming pool was first built in 1924 by architect Dwight James Baum. The 70 by 36 foot pool was filled in many years ago for the safety of the visitors. The reflection pool is much shallower than the original swimming pool for safety reasons. During the restoration process, the old-Spanish style architecture was maintained with the use of blue tiles and the return of the statue of Venus that originally watched over bathers. The Bolger Family funded the restoration. The pool was dedicated to Ron McCarty and his service to Ca’ d’Zan. After 38 years as keeper of the Ca' d'Zan, he retired the same month as the dedication, August 2018. In the yard on the right side of the house was a fabulous Roman Soldier sculpture

Further to the right along the banks of Sarasota Bay is a peaceful park with romantic Italian sculptures with the entrance marked by a sculptured eagle.

Ca'd'Zan: House of John

This Venetian Gothic palace on Sarasota Bay, palatial home of John and Mable Ringling was completed in the mid-20's. Tile work on the exterior of 

Ca' d'Zan

The side entrance to the house has these exquisite curved marble steps. The entire back deck and docks overlooking the Atlantic Sarasota Bay are constructed of the most gorgeous eloquent multicolor Italian marble imaginable. With Sarasota Bay out the back doors of Ca'd'Zan, it would be hard not to want this to be the front entrance. The glass in the doors and windows are accentuated by the stone of the façade of the home. The entire structure is strikingly beautiful!

We rounded Ca'd'Zan's back to get more exemplary views of this family home of John and Mabel Ringling.

Beyond the house was a waterfront walkway lined with tall palms. The breeze from Sarasota Bay blew over us in a gentle way making the experience of Ca' d'Zan even more magical.

On our next visit to Sarasota and The Ringling Estate, we will try to get the limited tickets for both of the interior tours showing various rooms on different floors of Ca' d'Zan. 

Continuing to walk the acreage of the estate, we noted a small house back by the trees. A small terra cotta guesthouse on The Ringling grounds was the home of Captain Heusted and his wife. Their son worked for Ringling for three years as the engineer for Zalophus, the Yacht of the Circus King! Today, The Captain's Cottage occasionally houses visiting artists installing their work or performing at The Ringling.

Throughout the property there are well over 100 sculptures. These four Italian sculptures are a very small sampling of what we saw as we passed through the grounds and the gardens.

The lake or pond at the rose garden by the marble gazebo at The Ringling Estate In one of the gardens we came across two very detailed sculptures. The first was Lygia and the Bull. This sculpture illustrates a scene from the historical novel Quo Vadis (1896) by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz. In the novel set in ancient Rome, the Emperor Nero sentences the young Christian woman Lygia to a public death - being toed to a bull - as part of his punishment of Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64CE. She is saved by her manservant, who manages to kill the bull with his bare hands. Sitting on the other side of this garden path was Arnese Bull (Dirke Punished by Amphion and Zethos). The form of Lygia's death sentence recalls the tale of Dirke from ancient Greek myth, famously represented in the sculpture named Farnese Bull. In that story, Dirke is tied to a bull by Amphion and Zethos as punishment for mistreating their mother, Antiope.

All throughout the property we see Florida Spanish Moss on the trees. Spanish moss prefers moist environments, but its ability to trap water lets it survive dry periods. The plant can also go dormant until moisture conditions improve. Spanish moss does not have any roots. It attaches to the underlying bark by wrapping its stems around a surface. Also, it does not need roots for water and nutrient uptake, since all parts of Spanish moss have that ability. We spotted this Tree with a Hanging Staghorn Fern or Moose Ear Plant. The “antler” frond - these are the large, bifurcated leaves that shoot out of the center of the plant, and from which staghorn ferns get their names, since they resemble the antlers of deer or moose.

As we returned to The Ringling Art Museum, we thought of what a wonderful this experience was and how grateful we did not have to pass it up due to rain. 

Being early afternoon, we decided to find Yoder's Amish Village and have some lunch. Yoder's Amish Village Restaurant 

Amish in Florida

Palm trees and Amish people may seem like an odd mix to some but the Amish have actually lived in Florida for almost a hundred years. 

Sarasota Amish communities first began in the celery fields in 1928, settling in the present day community of Pinecrest in 1930. The Amish culture has always been plain and simple; faith in God, working hard, farming off the land and eating local wherever they may live. There are several wall murals adorning all of the buildings in Yoder's Amish Village. And with Halloween around the corner and Fall now here, the shops and outdoor areas were decorated for the season. What a great time we had in Sarasota. This is our last official stop of the road trip. We return to Orlando tomorrow. That will be fun too, seeing family and doing something new for us there as well. We had a relaxing evening playing Euchre and eating Trail Bologna! All of the captioned pictures are in this section's photo album at this link.