Inside the Ringling Mansion: The Rise and Fall of a Circus Empire

I’ve been to this mansion & it’s breathtaking. The views of the ocean from the terrace is amazing. Highly recommend seeing this.

In person, this place is absolutely gorgeous. The ocean literally laps at the foundations of the house. The grounds are gorgeous, with a botanical garden that has trees and plants from around the world. We spent hours just wandering the grounds after an afternoon in the art museum. We followed a wonderful fragrancearound until we came upon a Ylang ylang tree in bloom. The collection in the art museum is wonderful. We were so lucky - we were there during the second wave of COVID, and were almost the only people in the entire place. We had it all to ourselves - it was absolutely magical.

The Ringling Museum is the finest exhibit of art, culture, gardens, architecture & entertainment in all of Florida. A must see for any visit to the west coast. A treasure beyond compare!! When Ringling's personal train car was found & restored, and added to the exhibits, I was dumbfounded.

This is a very nice Florida Day Trip with the Circus Museum and the Ringling Museum of Art all on the same property. The house and furnishings are spectacular and the third floor play room is a blast! The art museum is a treasure of Italian Renaissance paintings. Very much worth a visit to this estate.

I loved the carvings to scale of the circus that took a man from West Virginia a lifetime to make. Absolutely beautiful. It takes nearly an hour to walk around it and see it. Beautiful place.

The original choice for Sarasota was that it was where the Ringlings wintered their circuses. As magnificent as the mansion is, there is so much more to this estate. There's the circus museum, the large art museum, and the 1798 Asolo Theater (purchased long after Ringling's death). One of John Ringling's real estate purchases was all the land across the bay (shown in the photo looking through the balustrade) so that no one (at the time) could build on it, giving him a view of only nature. The Empire style bedroom was not a guest room but was actually John's. My favorite room is John's bathroom with the bathtub cut from one block of marble. My favorite thing in the mansion when I visited, was that the dining table was set with the Ringling's own Tiffany Persian sterling flatware. In a biography of Chick Austin , it tells that when he left as head of the Wadsworth Antheneum in Hartford to get the Art museum here up and running, all of the art (including those huge masterpieces by Rubens) was filthy and covered in mold! There is also the beautiful mansion of john's brother Charles in Sarasota which is part of a college but seems to be available for weddings. Excellent video.

Great story. I was very blessed to be able to work security there for about four years. The home is amazing.

What a grand & opulent mansion!!! I am glad that it was saved & can be enjoyed today!!! Thanks Ken for sharing this elegant estate!!! 👍👍🙂

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. My husband is a former RBBB clown, having performed for nearly 4 years from the late 70's to the early 80's. He literally ran away to join the circus, having hitchhiked from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California to audition. The powers that be in RBBB were so impressed they immediately put him to work, later sending him to Clown College. I was once told by another former RBBB clown that he was the best dwarf clown he had ever known or worked with.

The elephants just broke my heart. That one coming out the doorway with those eyes and the stains beneath them - you can tell she probably cries all day and night. So sad how people didn't care that animals have feelings. Especially elephants.

So glad this property has been preserved. Thank you for telling its story.

The beautiful elephants looked so sad 😢

I have visited this house. It is so beautifully unique. In the garden they had a replica of The Statue of David. The tile work was impressive. A small circus museum next to the house was also very interesting with artifacts and information.

I saw this house when it was derelict. The transformation is astounding and a credit to all those who have contributed.

For those who like/appreciate classical art, the paintings at the Ringling Museum of Art are magnificent and well worth a visit.

A very beautiful and palatial house and gardens. Mr Ringling and his wife Mabel had very good taste in interior design for that particular time. I am pleased that the public saw fit to save this house and gardens 😀

I have visited this amazing place several times when I lived in St. Pete. Glad to see it still well maintained and visited. Beautiful.

I've never been a big fan of circus (probably because of my fear/dislike of clowns) but always fascinated by the circus "show" and business. In the late 80's had the fortune to perform in their band for 3 days in Charlotte, N.C. It was awesome showbiz...bigger than life.

Man I'm glad I was able to see this amazing traveling group several times. Even saw original Harlem globetrotters at the circus. Was incredible

This is worth seeing in person along with everything on the grounds from the fine art museum to the circus history exhibits. I call it the grown up Disney World.