A report from Campaign Ca'd'Zan.

Co-chair Michael Saunders discusses the community-wide effort to restore Sarasota's grandest home.

The legacy of giving left by John Ringling, the man who shaped Sarasota's reputation as a community of art and culture, has come full circle.

Ca d'Zan, the Venetian-style mansion Ringling built on the bay for his winter retreat and then donated to the public, has fallen into disrepair. Fortunately, the public is responding by taking its turn to give through Campaign Ca d'Zan, a citizen-initiated capital campaign to restore the Ringling home to its original magnificence.

"I remember visiting Ca d'Zan as a child," says Michael Saunders, who with Jim Barnett of Bradenton is co-chairing Campaign Ca d'Zan. "It was so magical seeing the effect of filtered sunlight on gold gilt, the beauty of the red velvet curtains in the Great Hall and, what seemed to me then, the enormous, oversized furniture."

Embellished with leaded, stained-glass windows, marble terraces, thousands of ceramic and clay tiles and a unique, rose-hued terra cotta facade, Ca d'Zan accurately evokes the Roaring '20s with all of its optimism and extravagance. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion was designed by New York architect Dwight James Baum in 1926 for $1.5 million. Many of its 30 rooms are decorated with hand-painted ceilings, carvings, priceless tapestries and virtually all of the original furnishings, while its unique architecture, a combination of Venetian Gothic and Renaissance, gives Ca d'Zan an appearance unlike any other mansion in the world.

"I have watched this mansion deteriorate over the years," says Saunders. "Ringling's gift is a treasure for the 275,000 people who visit annually. There are so few historic houses or buildings of this importance left in the region, state or country."

Although some critical structural repairs have been made through the years, nearly 50 years of public traffic has left its mark on the 9,000 square-foot bayside. mansion. The deterioration has reached such a point that only half of the mansion's 30 rooms are open to the public.

"The home of Mrs. John Ringling was a passion of hers and she was deeply involved in the architectural design and furnishings," says Saunders. "Mable was a strong-minded woman who knew what she wanted and had an adoring husband who let her have her way."

To preserve his winter home, however, is going to take money The state of Florida is expected to provide between $6 and $8 million to refurbish and repair the exterior of the mansion and its beautiful terraces. Over the last two years, the state has appropriated $2.8 million and it is hoped the Legislature will appropriate an additional $1.8 million each year for the next three years.

Meanwhile, Saunders and the capital campaign committee are committed to raising $2.75 million privately to refurbish the interior and establish an endowment fund to assure this piece of living history is perpetually preserved.

Already, the capital campaign has received generous contributions from the William G. Selby and Marie Selby Foundation, the Dart Foundation, NationsBank, Merrill Lynch and philanthropists such as Marcia Rubin. Rubin, inspired by fond memories of dancing on the terrace with her husband, recently gave Ca d'Zan its largest gift ever -- $750,000.

This art of giving, which began with John Ringling, truly has come full circle, says Saunders. "And there is an opportunity for those who are generous to be remembered and recognized for their foresight in restoring the most magnificent, historically important pieces of property back to the original glory of days gone by.

"We need help on all levels; no gift is too small. The spirit of giving is in each of us."

To get involved or to give, please call our campaign office: Campaign Ca d'Zan, 5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, Florida 34243, [phone].