THE THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION.
Why would you want to visit Palm Beach? well, the “island” is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the U.S.A. Palm Beach can count at least 40 billionaires as residents.
Lucky for us, not all of their estates are hiding behind ten-foot walls and hedges.
Why visit West Palm Beach? With 17 historic districts, it will keep the H.G.T.V. fans gawking. The downtown area is a mix of old and new with a vitality.
Thanks, in part to many benefactors in Palm Beach, the city has a dynamic arts and culture scene.
Visit Palm Beach.
Many of the structures are on the National Register of Historic Places. (N.R.H.P.)
Worth Avenue Clock Tower.
Where Worth Avenue meets the Atlantic Ocean, this 2010 structure marks the location of the Palm Beach Pier. The pier is a victim of a 1930 hurricane. This is an Instagram spot and a good place to start exploring.
Come, we are walking.
Worth Avenue.
Stretching from Lake Worth to the Atlantic Ocean, these four blocks date from 1913. The street takes its name from General William Jenkins Worth, a hero in the Second Seminole War.
In 1918, when the landlords along fashionable Lake Trail begin raising rents, several shops relocate near the new Everglades Club. Addison Mizner and Paris Singer (sewing machines) are the original developers.
The Colony Hotel.
Walking west on Worth from the clock, take a detour at the first left, S County Road. At the end of the block is this pink paradise from 1947. When you walk inside, you are in 1940s Palm Beach.
Unfortunately, the Royal Room no longer hosts Broadway stars in a cabaret setting. And the Polo Lounge has a different name. Still, it is a lovely place for a drink or lunch poolside.
The Everglades Club.
Circa 1918, Paris Singer hires Mizner to design the Touchstone Convalescent Club, a hospital for WWI wounded. Unfortunately, the war ends before they can finish it, so they make it a social and golf club.
Chesterfield Hotel.
Dating from 1925, the hotel opens as the Lido-Venice. Three years later, they rename it the Venita. It will have several owners over the next 40 years, each one adding to the hotel.
Since 1989, it has been a hotel under one management company. Locals and guests sip afternoon tea, enjoy breakfast in the Courtyard or drinks and music in the Leopard Lounge. The hotel is three short blocks north of the Everglades Club.
The Brazilian Court Hotel.
Across the street and one block east of the Chesterfield Hotel is this Mediterranian hotel dating from 1926. Today, the hotel is on the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is popular with locals and guests.
Palm Beach Town Hall.
A five-minute walk east of the Brazilian Court is this listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Dating from 1925, the city would eventually outgrow the building. However, they still use it for meetings.
Check out the Palm Beach Memorial Fountain on the north side of the building. Another Mizner design. From here, it is a four-minute walk south to Worth Avenue.
Billionaires Row.
El Solano.
At 720 South Ocean Blvd. is a historic Mizner house so great, he actually calls it home. Dating from 1919, Mizner will sell it to Harold Vanderbilt in the early 1920s.
In January of 1980, John Lennon and his wife Yoko buy the house and stay for a few months. Unfortunately, he will not see their plans for a renovation due to his death in December of that year. Instead, Yoko will oversee their renovation and sell the house in 1986.
It is still a private residence, last selling for more than 23 million dollars.
Mar-a-Lago.
This National Historic Landmark at 1100 S Ocean Blvd. is by architect Marion Sims Wyeth. He will also do the Norton Museum and Doris Duke’s Shangri La in Honolulu.
Marjorie Merriweather Post (of Grape Nuts and Alpha-Bits fame) builds the house for her husband, E. F. Hutton. Costing $7 million in 1924 ($104 million in today’s dollars), it has 126-rooms, 58 of which are bedrooms.
The 62,500-square-foot “cottage” sits on 7 acres and stretches from the ocean (Mar) to the lake (lago).
Little Red Schoolhouse.
Dating from 1886, it is the first schoolhouse in southeast Florida. Circa 1960, the city moves and restores the school to Phipps Ocean Park. The park is a 10-minute drive south of Mar-a-Lago.
North of Royal Palm Way.
The Society of the Four Arts.
At the corner of Royal Palm Way and Cocoanut Row is this non-profit cultural organization dating from 1936. They hope to inspire young people by presenting music, art, drama, and literature through concerts, shows, and events.
Royal Poinciana Chapel.
Dating from 1898, Henry Flagler would finance the construction so his hotel guests would have a place to pray. In 1973, they move the chapel to its current location.
Seagull Cottage.
Land developer R.R. McCormick builds this ‘cottage” on Lake Worth in 1886. Henry Flagler will buy it and the land for his hotel in 1893. Instead of tearing it down, he lives in it until he can build Whitehall.
Henry Flagler’s Whitehall.
Behind the chapel is the diamond in Flagler’s Crown. What better place to learn about the man, his railroad, and Palm Beach’s Gilded Age than his house?
Flagler builds this 75-room, 100,000-square-foot Gilded ‘cottage’ as a wedding present for his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan. Today it is a museum and includes his private railroad car.
Slat House.
A minute north of Whitehall is this historic structure that dates from circa 1890. Originally serving as a greenhouse and conservancy for Flagler’s Hotel Royal Poinciana, it houses cafes and shops today.
Palm Beach Biltmore Hotel.
A two-minute drive north of Slat House is this pastel historic architectural landmark. Opening as the Alba Hotel in 1926, it would later become the Biltmore Hotel.
In the 1970s, the 543 hotel rooms will become 128 luxury condos.
St. Edward Roman Catholic Church.
Two minutes south of Warden house is this Catholic church dating from 1926. Whereas the Royal Poinciana Chapel for a non-denominational place for all, this was for the growing Catholic congregation.
Paramount Theatre Building.
Across the intersection of N. Country Road and Sunrise Avenue from St Edwards is this historic theater building from 1926. It would serve as a movie palace, theater, and most recently, a church and offices.
US Post Office.
Two blocks south of the Paramount is this 1936 building, a product of the New Deal. Since 2011, it has been a private office.
Breakers Hotel Complex.
The third hotel by that name dates from 1926. Unfortunately, Henry Flagler would not live to see this final masterpiece, one of the last grande Florida Winter Resorts.
Besides being home to Florida’s oldest golf course, there are four pools, beach, tennis, spa services, and more. The resort still employs close to 1800 employees.
The Church of Bethesda-By-The Sea.
Along the south edge of the Breaker’s property is this 1889 Episcopal Church. The gothic revival-style church is home to Palm Beach’s oldest existing congregation.
Phipp’s Plaza.
Two minutes drive south of the church is this commercial plaza just off S. County Road. It is a collection of structures.
The Carriage House.
The building creating the south side of the plaza entrance is a 1930 Mizner structure. The two-story quarry-keystone office building is the main office of E.F. Hutton’s agencies. Since the 1940s it has been various restaurants.
Visit West Palm Beach.
To build a railroad, Flagler would need workers and somewhere to house them. Then he would need housing for the railroad employees and hotel staff. If you build it, they will come.
Seaboard Airline Railroad Station.
Dating from 1924, the station is still in use today for Amtrak. Its pastel architecture is a nod to the styles of Palm Beach.
Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.
Four blocks south of the station is the Kravis Center hosting Broadway, opera, dance, and concerts.
Clematis Street Historic Commercial District.
Three blocks north of the Van Valkenburg house is Clematis Street. This is the original ‘downtown’ of West Palm Beach, ranking it as its own historic district. Many of the buildings along the street are now home to cafes, clubs, and shops.
The 1925 Comeau Building and 1927 Harvey Building are on the N.R.H.P.
St. Anne’s Catholic Church.
Two blocks north of Clematis on N. Olive Ave is this Catholic church dating from 1902. Henry Flagler donated the site to build a Catholic church for the working class.
Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.
A block west of St Anne’s is this interesting museum in the historic 1916 Courthouse. The museum’s collection and exhibits cover local history back 12,000 years.
Norton Museum of Art.
Dating from 1941, the museum now has a collection of more than 7,000 works. The emphasis of the collection is on American, European, and Chinese art. You can also find some contemporary art and photography.
As you can see, West Palm Beach really grows up from the ‘factory’ town it began as.
Visit the Historic Districts.
Palm Beach has always been out of the price range of most people. However, as more people begin pouring into West Palm Beach, it begins building wonderful neighborhoods that will become historic.
South of Town.
El Cid Historic District.
Stretching from Dixie Highway to the lake, El Cid is south of Mango Promenade. It has over 280 historic buildings, many in the Mediterranean Revival or Mission Style.
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens.
Ann’s lovely sculptures in a garden setting are adjacent to the historical Norton House at 253 Barcelona Road. Tours of her studio are also available.
The Other Side of the Tracks.
On the west side of the East Coast Railroad tracks are the following neighborhoods starting near Okeechobee Blvd.
Grandview Heights Historic District.
One of the city’s oldest residential neighborhoods, many structures date from 1910 to 1925. It has one of the city’s best assortment of early craftsman-style bungalows and modest, Mediterranean revival-style homes.
Flamingo Park Historic Residential District.
Just south of Grandview is this neighborhood with more than 450 historic structures. There are variations of the Mission and Mediterranean Revival styles. You can also see wood frame vernacular as well as Minimum Traditional houses. Other styles are few and far between.
Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society.
A ten-minute drive south of downtown, this compound is worth the drive. On 23 acres, this non-profit zoological organization houses more than 500 animals, several of them endangered.
The South Florida Science and Aquarium Center is behind the zoo in the same park.
Visit Palm Beach – West Palm Beach Summary.
As you can see, Palm Beach County has probably more than you were thinking. The winter “cottages” of the rich rival the summer ones in Newport. It includes the largest number of Addison Mizner structures.
In West Palm Beach, there are historic districts, one right after the other, full of other architectural style masterpieces.
For the ‘home’-sexuals in the crowd, there is enough to keep you exploring for days.
And there is the Florida sun and ocean nearby.
If you visit Southeast Florida, make sure to visit Palm Beach and West Palm.
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“See the World” Continued on Page T3. “Taste the World” Continued on T11.
Palm Beach is rich in history and architecture. I have had the pleasure of working on many homes on the island and am always thrilled to tour them and marvel at their beauty. It really is the architecture that draws me back to these cities. When given to chance to meet friends for dinner or attend a concert I like to drive around and explore the neighborhoods.
I have always passed Palm Beach by on my way to S Florida cities. My mistake! So much to see!