AN HISTORICAL LOOK BACK ON 100 YEARS OF HISTORY

The Breakers, Palm Beach

PALM BEACH, FL ...Situated on 140 oceanfront acres in the heart of Palm Beach, The Breakers continues to enjoy national and international acclaim after 100 years. In 1996, the famed oceanfront resort celebrated its Centennial as a monumental tribute to its founder Henry Morrison Flagler‑‑the man who transformed South Florida into a vacationland for millions.

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. It was in 1883 that 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. Until his death in 1 913, Flagler established along the east coast of Florida an extraordinary legacy of which The Breakers is a monumental part.

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, even the entrepreneur, he turned his sweeping vision and boundless 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,Flaglerannounced 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 two hundred acres along Lake Worth's west shore, and construct the sprawling Royal Poinciana Hotel on Lake Worth's east shore (now Palm Beach).

The only reason people came to Palm Beach was to stay at the Royal Poinciana, a six story, Georgian‑style hotel. Flagler had 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 1,75 0 guests. The hallways were so extensive ‑‑ more than three miles in length ‑‑ that bellhops sometimes 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 richest and most socially prominent families shared his love for Palm Beach and sensing another business opportunity, Flagler built a second hotel‑‑the Palm Beach Inn‑‑on the beach front portion of the Royal Poinciana’s property. The Palm Beach Inn, which opened on January l6,1896, was fully booked for most of that season because it was smaller and quieter than the vast Royal Poinciana and because it 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.

On June 9, 1903, as workers were enlarging the wood building for the fourth time in less than a decade, The Breakers burned down.

The seventy‑three‑year‑old Flagler was shocked by the loss of his favorite hotel but definitely not beaten. Two weeks later he 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 twentieth‑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;an even assorted European nobility and U.S. presidents.

Nothing was allowed to disturb the graciousness, beauty and exclusivity of The Breakers and thus its appeal to its elite guests. As one Florida East Coast Railroad brochure confidentially proclaimed: "No hotel on the Florida East Coast is better appointed or more popular than The Breakers."

On March 18,1925, twelve years after the death of Henry 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 billowing clouds of dark 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. 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 new Breakers, the directors of the Florida East Coast Hotel Company declared, would be "the acme of perfection in design and magnificence ...nothing was to be omitted that could in any way add to the comfort of the prominent guests who each year were accustomed to spend a considerable part of the season at Palm Beach."

For the new hotel's architects the Florida East Coast Hotel Company selected the 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 ll % 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 completing its second half century, The Breakers continues the tradition of excellence started when Henry Morrison Flagler built his first hotel. One of the few privately owned resorts, it remains one of me best in the world. The Breakers heirs have long maintained the hotel in keeping with the Flagler tradition.

The award‑winning Breakers Palm Beach is a Mobil Five-Star, AAA five diamond resort that has established itself as one of the finest in the world. The 569 room, Italian Renaissance‑style hotel is located in the heart of Palm Beach and resides on 140 acres of oceanfront property. Founded in 1896 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel recently completed a $100 million revitalization and expansion effort that has given the landmark property a casually sophisticated appeal. It now features two 18‑hole golf courses, l0tenniscourts,a 20,000 square foot luxury spa, a Mediterranean style beach club overlooking one‑half mile of private beach, an ocean view fitness center, an extensive program of family and children's activities and a variety of waters ports. The Breakers also features an outstanding selection of restaurants to suit casual or elegant preferences, as well as an array of on‑site boutiques to fulfill travelers' interest in shopping. For more information, please contact The Breakers at (561) 655‑6611 or toll free at 1‑888‑BREAKERS, or locate its web site at http://www.thebreakers.com, or contact your travel professional. The Breakers is also a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.