A LOOK BACK ON MORE THAN 112 YEARS OF HISTORY AT THE BREAKERS PALM BEACH
PALM BEACH, FL – In 1996, The Breakers celebrated its Centennial as a monumental tribute to its founder Henry Morrison Flagler, the man who transformed South Florida into a vacationland for millions. Now into its second century, the resort continues to enjoy national and international acclaim.
Flagler and Florida’s East Coast
When Henry Morrison Flagler first visited Florida in March 1878, he had already accumulated a vast fortune in Cleveland and New York as a longtime partner of John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company. In 1883, he turned his attention to Florida. Impressed with the mild winter climate, he began the construction of his first hotel in St. Augustine and continued south to Palm Beach.
With the founding of the Standard Oil Trust in 1882, Flagler, then fifty-five years old, could depend on an annual income of several million dollars from dividends, and he gradually withdrew from the company's day-to-day operations. But Flagler did not retire. Instead, ever the entrepreneur, he turned his vision and energy to a new role – resort developer and railroad king.
Flagler started buying and building Florida railroads, rapidly extending the lines down the state's east coast. As the Florida East Coast Railroad opened up this sparsely settled region to development and tourism, Flagler acquired or constructed resort hotels along the coast.
The Royal Poinciana Hotel
In 1893, Flagler announced one of his boldest plans ever – to extend the Florida East Coast Railroad to isolated Lake Worth, develop a town (now West Palm Beach) on 200 acres along Lake Worth's west shore, and construct the Royal Poinciana Hotel on Lake Worth's east shore (now Palm Beach).
People came to Palm Beach to stay at the Royal Poinciana, a six-story, Georgian-style hotel. Flagler built the destination, provided easy access on his railroad, and the cream of American society crowded into this tiny town as if at his command.
From its opening in 1894, The Royal Poinciana eventually became the world's largest hotel, stretching more than 1,800 feet along Lake Worth, its 1,100 rooms accommodated 1,750 guests. The hallways were so extensive – more than three miles in length – that bellhops delivered messages and packages from the front desk to guest rooms by bicycle.
The Palm Beach Inn (The Original Breakers)
Delighted that many of America's most socially prominent families shared his love for Palm Beach, Flagler built a second hotel - the Palm Beach Inn - on the beachfront portion of the Royal Poinciana's property. The Palm Beach Inn, which opened on January 16, 1896, was fully booked for most of that season. The hotel was smaller and quieter than the vast Royal Poinciana and overlooked the Atlantic Ocean.
Instead of asking for rooms at the Royal Poinciana, many regular Palm Beach guests asked for rooms "over by the breakers." The name stuck. When Flagler doubled the size of the Palm Beach Inn for the 1901 season, he renamed it The Breakers.
In 1897, Flagler enlisted Alexander H. Findlay, the father of American golf and a close friend of Flagler’s partner, John D. Rockefeller, to design the first golf course in the state of Florida, adjacent to the Palm Beach Inn. It was originally constructed with only nine holes, as Flagler thought golf a passing fancy.
On June 9, 1903, as workers were enlarging the wood building for the fourth time in less than a decade, The Breakers burned down. Just two weeks after the fire, the 73-year-old Flagler announced that The Breakers would not only be rebuilt but also would open for the upcoming winter season.
The Breakers II
On February 1, 1904, The Breakers reopened to universal acclaim. The new Breakers, a rambling four-story, colonial-style building constructed entirely of wood, contained 425 rooms and suites. Rooms started at four dollars a night, including three meals a day.
As did its predecessor's, The Breakers guest register read like a "who's who" of early-20th century America: various Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors; the tycoons Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan; the publisher William Randolph Hearst; the five-and-dime kings W.T. Grant and J.C. Penney; and even assorted European nobility and U.S. presidents.
On March 18, 1925, twelve years after the death of Henry Morrison Flagler, tragedy again struck his empire. That afternoon the cry "Fire in the south wing" suddenly filled The Breakers.
Despite the firefighters' efforts, The Breakers was doomed. Strong southeast winds fanned the fire. The palatial hotel, built almost entirely of wood, was soon engulfed in flames. The clouds of smoke that poured out of the hotel could be seen twenty miles away. Fortunately, no lives were lost in the blaze, a miracle considering the number of guests and employees at The Breakers. Mayor “Big Bill’ Thompson, then the Mayor of Chicago, was a guest at the hotel with his wife for the season; they attended the St. Patrick’s Day Ball the night before on March 17. The following morning, Mrs. Thompson allegedly left on her brand new, electric Marcel curling iron when she departed her guest room, where the fire was proven to have started.
Flagler's heirs refused to be beaten by this catastrophe. Led by William R. Kenan, Jr., president of both the Florida East Coast Hotel Company and the Florida East Coast Railway Company and the brother of Flagler's wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, they showed the same determination and vision as Flagler himself.
Shortly after the fire the Florida East Coast Hotel Company announced that it would not only build the world's finest resort hotel on the site of The Breakers but also that it would do so in time for the opening of the 1926-27 winter season, little more than a year away.
The Breakers Today
The Florida East Coast Hotel Company selected the architectural firm Schultze and Weaver, which later designed the Waldorf-Astoria, Pierre, and Sherry Netherlands Hotels in New York City. For the hotel's architectural style, Schultze and Weaver selected the Italian Renaissance. During an earlier trip to Rome, Leonard Schultze had admired the Villa Medici (1575), and used that building as the basis for The Breakers facade.
On December 4, 1925, the New York City-based Turner Construction Company signed a contract to build the new Breakers and construction began in January 1926. The seven-story hotel had to be built, furnished, and landscaped to open just after Christmas 1926, the start of the Palm Beach season.
More than 1,200 construction workers labored on The Breakers around-the-clock to meet the opening date. Seventy-five artisans were brought from Italy to complete the magnificent paintings on the ceilings of the lobby and first-floor public rooms. The immense structure was completed in a scant 11½ months and opened on December 29, 1926.
The Breakers exceeded everyone's expectations. The 200-foot-long main lobby, with its high-arched ceiling decorated with paintings; the vast Florentine Dining Room, with its richly decorated, beamed ceiling modeled after the Palazzo Davanzati (ca. 1400) in Florence; the magnificent North and South Loggias; and the shaded terraces and landscaped patios.
Far grander than its predecessor, The Breakers was more than America's greatest winter resort, it was an unrivaled masterpiece. As the president of Turner Construction Company reported soon after the opening, "Those who know, say it is the finest resort hotel in America, and it is not likely that the circumstances of ownership, time, and place will produce its counterpart in years to come."
Now into its second century, The Breakers continues the tradition of excellence started when Henry Morrison Flagler built his first hotel. One of the few privately owned resorts independent of chain affiliation, it remains one of the finest in the world. The heirs to the original ownership have successfully maintained and revitalized the hotel in keeping with the Flagler tradition, spending millions on renewal and expansion. With their commitment, capital expenditures averaging $25 million a year will continue to be reinvested in The Breakers for the long term, to ensure the resort remains appealing to future generations. Today, its timeless atmosphere reflects the elegant comforts and personalization of a grand residence, and it has been energized with a youthful and family-minded philosophy.
JAMES A. PONCE, RESIDENT HISTORIAN OF THE BREAKERS PALM BEACH
One of The Breakers’ greatest treasures is its resident historian, Mr. James Ponce, who brandishes the resort’s rich heritage with an anecdotal enthusiasm that appeals to all ages.
At 92-years-old, Ponce continues to give weekly tours at the legendary oceanfront resort, when hotel guests gather with him to stroll the palatial halls, relive the glamour and admire the one-of-a-kind Italian Renaissance architectural design and artistry of the interiors. Ponce knows the cherubim and seraphim of the hotel's ornate hand-painted ceilings (the work of 75 Florentine artists) and the personalities of the 44 nobles, conquerors, popes and Indian chiefs whose portraits hang in the ornate Gold Room. He regales his audience with the visits of celebrated guests who have been hosted over the years. Giving life to the bricks and mortar and storied past of The Breakers, history is clearly in this man’s genes; he can trace his ancestry to the oldest documented family in the United States. Complimentary tours are available weekly to hotel guests.
Founded in 1896 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Breakers Palm Beach is one of America’s legendary resort destinations. The 540-room, Italian Renaissance-style hotel resides on 140 acres of oceanfront property in the heart of Palm Beach. With the commitment of its original ownership, The Breakers has invested $250 million over the past decade in its ongoing revitalization and enhancement of its multi-faceted amenities – most recently, the dramatic transformation of shoreline into a luxurious beachfront experience. The resort’s timeless atmosphere has been renewed in a style of relaxed elegance, from its magnificent interiors to its artfully designed landscape. Highly personalized service indulges couples on a romantic getaway as much as it energizes multi-generational travelers with a family-minded philosophy. Capital expenditures averaging $20 million a year continue to be reinvested in the property for the long term, to ensure it remains appealing to future guests for decades to come.
The resort features 36 holes of championship golf, including The Ocean Course and The Breakers Rees Jones® Course; 10 tennis courts, a 20,000 square foot luxury spa; a breathtaking oceanfront and Mediterranean-style beach club with a half-mile of private beach, featuring luxurious beach bungalows for daytime-rental, five pools and four whirlpool spas; a comprehensive Family Entertainment Center, an extensive program of family and children’s activities, and a variety of water sports. The Breakers also features a broad selection of distinctive restaurants ranging from casual to fine dining, as well as an array of on-site boutiques - all wholly owned and managed by the resort. The Breakers is recognized as a AAA Five Diamond property. For reservations or more information, contact the resort toll-free at 1-888-BREAKERS (273-2537), (561) 655-6611, visit www.thebreakers.com, or contact your travel professional.
THE BREAKERS HISTORICAL TIMELINE
PALM BEACH, FL. – After accumulating a great fortune through a partnership with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil, today Exxon Mobile, Henry Morrison Flagler turned his attention to Florida in 1883. Impressed with the mild winter climate, he began the construction of his first hotel in St. Augustine and continued south to Palm Beach. Until his death in 1913, Flagler established along the east coast of Florida an extraordinary legacy of which The Breakers is a monumental part.
1893 Henry Morrison Flagler purchases 140 acres between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth.
1894 On February 11, Flagler opens his first Palm Beach Hotel and introduces the concept of luxury hotels to the area. His hotel, the Royal Poinciana on Lake Worth, eventually becomes the largest hotel in the world for its day.
1894 The Florida East Coast Railway begins service to West Palm Beach on April 2.
1896 Flagler enlarges a winter home which stood on the 140 acres he purchased in 1893 forming the Palm Beach Inn (later renamed The Breakers - see 1901), an overflow property to The Royal Poinciana. Upon its opening on Junuary 16, this beautiful inn holds the designation as being the only oceanfront hotel south of Daytona Beach.
1896 Flagler extends the Florida East Coast Railway to Miami and opens the Royal Palm Hotel on Biscayne Bay. He then builds The Port of Palm Beach, a 1,000-foot pier off the Palm Beach Inn. From this port, guests are able to travel via steamship to Nassau, Havana and Key West.
1897 To accommodate golfers at the Palm Beach Inn and Royal Poinciana, Flagler contracts Alexander H. Findlay to build the first 9 holes of golf in Florida. The Poinciana Golf Clubhouse is also constructed and remains today the location of the former Centennial Restaurant, an elegant Victorian dining salon that opened in celebration of The Breakers 100th anniversary.
1899 Due to Palm Beach's growing popularity and new reputation as a "winter paradise," the Royal Poinciana is enlarged by half its size to accommodate the northerners flocking to South Florida's beaches and warm climate.
1900 During the summer, Flagler lays foundation for Whitehall, his private residence.
1901 As guests begin to request a room "down by the breakers," the Palm Beach Inn is renamed The Breakers.
1901 Henry Morrison Flagler, 71 years, marries Mary Lily Kenan, 34 years, in Kenansville, North Carolina on August 24.
1902 On February 6, Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Flagler move into Whitehall, one of the great estates of America's Gilded Age. This exquisite 55-room marble palace on Lake Worth was specially built as a gift to Flagler's bride, Mary Lily Kenan. Today, Whitehall is known as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum and is open for the public to enjoy.
1903 While again being enlarged, The Breakers catches fire and burns to the ground on June 9. It was immediately replaced by a more attractive wooden structure that opened its doors on February 1 and was effectively deemed one of the finest hotels in America. Flagler extended his railroad to the front of the hotel for convenience. Tracks remained next to the circular driveway of The Breakers until the late 1920s.
1905 The American novelist Henry James visits The Breakers. In The American Scene (1907) he describes the hotel as “vast and cool and fair, friendly, breezy, shiny, swabbed and burnished like a royal yacht, really immaculate and delightful.”
1913 Following a serious fall in Whitehall, Flagler moves to seaside Nautilus Cottage where he dies on May 20.
1925 The “second” Breakers burns on March 18. The fire was said to have been started by one of those "new fangled curling irons."
1925 The Turner Construction Company signs a contract to build the new Breakers on December 4.
1926 In a tribute to the vision of Henry Flagler, The Flagler heirs built the current Breakers, one of the finest resorts in the world, at a cost of $7 million. From ground breaking to the first guest check-in December 29, 1926, The Breakers is completed in a record-breaking 11½ months, in order to open just after Christmas, the start of the Palm Beach season. Today, The Breakers is praised as one of the most splendid architectural and artistic achievements of its era. The exterior design is Italian Renaissance with an overall layout very similar to The Ponce de Leon, Flagler's hotel masterpiece in St. Augustine. The inside decor boasts spectacular Venetian chandeliers, paintings of great Renaissance rulers, gold leaf ceilings as well as ceilings hand-painted by Florentine artists.
1926 On December 30, The Palm Beach Post-Times hails The Breakers as “a milestone in the architectural perfection of American hotels.”
1927 In May, The Architectural Forum praises The Breakers as “without doubt one of the most magnificent successful examples of a palatial winter resort hotel.”
1928 As The Breakers increased in popularity, and seating guests comfortably at dinner becomes a problem, the heirs add The Circle Dining Room, one of the most picturesque dining rooms in the world.
1930 The Royal Poinciana is gradually torn down between 1930 and 1935. The Victorian wooden structure was in excess of 35 years old. The Breakers had long since replaced the Royal Poinciana as the primary resort of the town.
1936 In February, Fortune declares, “The new Breakers is undoubtedly the finest resort hotel in the world.”
1942 On September 10, The Breakers becomes the U.S. Army’s Ream General Hospital, where thousands of servicemen and women recuperate from their wounds and illnesses during World War II. Prominent visitors include Eleanor Roosevelt and President Harry Truman.
1942-44 More than a dozen babies – known as the “Breakers Babies” – are born at the hotel.
1944 In May, the U.S. Army returns The Breakers to its owners, who prepare it for reopening.
1944 The Breakers reopens as a hotel on December 24.
1966 The Breakers Ocean Golf Clubhouse opens.
1968 The east wings, consisting of 150 guestrooms, are added to The Breakers in addition to the grand Venetian Ballroom and extensive meeting facilities. A new Beach Club replaces the older Beach Casino.
1970 The Breakers is fully air conditioned.
1971 The Breakers, originally open mid-December to mid-April, commences year-round operation.
1973 The Breakers is named to the National Register of Historic Places.
1991 In March, Town and Country observes, “There is nothing quite like The Breakers, nothing quite like its Italianate architecture, its grandeur, or the legacy of its fascinating past.”
1995 The hotel completes a five-year, $75 million renovation program.
1996 The resort celebrates its Centennial anniversary as a Palm Beach and national landmark.
1997 The Breakers successfully earns back the coveted AAA Five Diamond Award.
1999 The Breakers opened its new Oceanfront luxury Spa, Beach Club and Ponce de Leon Ballroom.
2001 Redesign and renovation of historic Ocean Course and opening of new Golf & Tennis Clubhouse designed in the grand, "Old Florida" style of architecture.
2002 Completion of oceanfront tower room renovation marks the renewal of all 560 guest rooms and suites; re-design of main drive and arrival. With the original owners’ commitment, capital expenditures averaging $15 million a year will continue to be reinvested in The Breakers for the long term.
2003 Building on its reputation as one of America’s leading family-friendly resorts, The Breakers unveils its new Family Entertainment Center, a multiplex of entertainment and activities for all ages.
2004 Famed golf course architect Rees Jones partners with The Breakers on the reconstruction of The Breakers Rees Jones® Course.
2006 The Breakers unveiled a $15-million beachfront redevelopment and introduced the ultimate beachfront experience featuring lush tropical landscaping, 20 private beach bungalows, 2 new pools – one for relaxation and one for families, three whirlpool spas, a Beach Gazebo and The Ocean Grill. The famed British clothing line, Burberry, opens as a new boutique.
2007 The Breakers commenced phase one of a four-year, guest room renewal. Subsequent phases will be completed over 2008, 2009 and 2010. Capital expenditures averaging $25 million a year will be reinvested in The Breakers for the long term.
2008 In June, the resort took over operation of the former Governor’s Club to unveil a brand new city club experience at the top of the Phillips Point Building East Tower in downtown West Palm Beach. After a four-month renovation, the Phillips Point Club by The Breakers opens as a private club during the day with a restaurant, Top of The Point, open to the public at night. The resort now features 540 guest rooms and 58 suites as a result of the second year of a four-year rooms renovation project. Mix, a women's fashion accessories boutique, opens in November.
12.29.08
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