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Renowned for its glitz, Worth Avenue, sometimes referred to as the Rodeo Drive of Florida, is a famous upscale shopping district in Palm Beach, Florida, in the United States. The street stretches four blocks from Lake Worth to the Atlantic Ocean. The street first became fashionable after the construction in 1918 of the Everglades Club. Worth Avenue also includes smaller alleyways known as Vias "off the main avenue. The epitome of Palm Beach style, the street has approximately 250 shops, boutiques, restaurants and art galleries, including Neiman Marcus, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., Hermès, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Chanel, Loro Piana, Brooks Brothers, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Lana Marks, Vilebrequin, and Lacoste. An open-air mall, The Esplanade, lies at the eastern end of Worth Avenue. The Esplanade offers a variety of upscale shops anchored by department store Saks Fifth Avenue. The Breakers Hotel is a historic hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. First known as The Palm Beach Inn, it was opened on January 16, 1896 by Henry Flagler, an oil, real estate and railroad tycoon, to accommodate travelers on his Florida East Coast Railway. It occupied the beachfront portion of the grounds of the Royal Poinciana Hotel, which Flagler had opened beside Lake Worth in 1894. But because guests began requesting rooms "over by the breakers," Flagler renamed it The Breakers in 1901. The wooden hotel burned on June 9, 1903 and was rebuilt, opening on February 1, 1904. Rooms started at $4.00 a night, including 3 meals a day. Because Flagler forbid motorized vehicles on the property, patrons were delivered between the two hotels in wheeled chairs powered by employees. The grounds featured a 9-hole golf course. On March 18, 1925, The Breakers burned again, the fire started by an electric curling iron left on. The architectural firm of Schultze & Weaver modeled its 550-room replacement after the Villa Medici in Rome, this time abandoning wooden construction for fireproof concrete. Built by 1,200 construction workers, the hotel reopened on December 29, 1926 to considerable acclaim. Today, the international elite continues to commingle in its 200 foot main lobby and across its 140 acres (57 hectares), located beside the Atlantic Ocean. Travelwizard.com's Virtuoso travel advisors highly recommends this fine hotel. Call 1 800 330 8820 to book or start planning. The Breakers Hotel is located at South County Road. On August 14, 1973, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Mar-A-Lago ("mahr-ah-lahgo"), built 1924-1927, is the name of the Marjorie Merriweather Post estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Post built the house with her (then) husband, Edward F. Hutton. The house was designed by Joseph Urban. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980. Mar-A-Lago has frequently hosted the International Red Cross Ball, an annual white tie, tails, and tiara ball. Founded by Mrs. Post, it has a history of attracting wealthy socialites and ambassadors from across the world in support of the mission of the American Red Cross. Now home to the Mar-A-Lago Club, the 118-room, 110,000-square-foot (10,219 m²) estate is owned by Donald Trump who holds 51% ownership and ex-wife Ivana Trump who holds 49% ownership. The house itself is 62,000 square feet (5,636 m²). After acquiring the property in 1985, Trump had the property renovated, with 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, a 29-foot (8.8 m)-long pietra dura marble dining table, 12 fireplaces, and three bomb shelters. Further additions have been made since then, including the recent construction of a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) ballroom. The name Mar-A-Lago is Spanish for "Sea to Lake". In 1994, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley spent their honeymoon at Mar-a-Lago. On October 3, 2006, Trump raised a 15' × 25' flag on an 80' flagpole at Mar-a-Lago. Town zoning officials asked Trump to adhere to town zoning codes that limit flagpoles to a height of 42'. This dispute led the town council of Palm Beach to charge Trump $1,250 for every day the flag at Mar-A-Lago remains. Trump has filed a lawsuit against the town. The Four Arts Gardens, also known as the Four Arts Library, Gardens and Philip Hulitar Sculpture Gardens, are nonprofit botanical gardens located at 2 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach, Florida. After the hurricanes of 2004, the gardens were renovated, and re-opened to the public in March 2007. The Society of the Four Arts was founded in 1936. Its campus on the Intracoastal Waterway is home to a gallery, concert hall auditorium, two libraries, an administration building, and gardens. The Plaza's original building by Maurice Fatio now houses a library. The Gallery building, designed by architect Addison Mizner, now contains galleries and an auditorium. The site's demonstration gardens were established in 1938 and now maintained by the Garden Club of Palm Beach to display tropical plants suitable for South Florida. Its Chinese garden includes a moongate and statuary, with pathway winding past a rock garden to the Spanish facade and decorative well. Large trees shade the way to the Madonna garden and formal fountain. It also includes a Spanish Garden, and a tropical garden. The original gardens were planned by seven society ladies and one gentleman in the 1930s, to incorporate a series of garden rooms with different themes.
The Flagler Museum, also known as Whitehall, is a 55-room mansion open to the public in Palm Beach, Florida in the United States. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Henry Flagler, one of the founders of Standard Oil, built Whitehall for his wife, Mary Lily Kenan. The site of the home was purchased for $50,000 in 1893 by Flagler; later surveyed for construction in July 1900 and the home completed in time for Flagler and his wife to move in on February 6th, 1902. The architects were Carrère and Hastings. It was a winter residence, and Henry gave it to Mary Lily as a wedding present. They would travel to Palm Beach each year in one of their own private railcars, one of which was No. 91. After the death of Flagler in 1913 and Mary Lily in 1917, the home was bequeathed to her niece Louise Clisby Wise Lewis, who sold the property to investors. They constructed a 300-room ten story addition to the west side of the building, obliterating Mr. Flagler's offices, the housekeeper's apartment, and altering the original kitchen and pantry area. In 1959, the site was saved from demolition by one of Henry Flagler's granddaughters Jean Flagler Matthews. She established the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum non-profit corporation which purchased the building in 1959, opening it as a museum in 1960. The upper ten stories of the hotel addition were demolished in 1963 in preparing the museum for the public. Today, Whitehall is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as the Flagler Museum, featuring guided tours, changing exhibits, and special programs. The Museum is located at Cocoanut Row and Whitehall Way, Palm Beach. |
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