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The Breakers (hotel)

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This article is about the hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. For the hotel in Long Beach, California, see Breakers Hotel (Long Beach, California). For the hotel in Sandusky, Ohio, see Hotel Breakers.
Breakers Hotel Complex
The Breakers (hotel) is located in Florida
The Breakers (hotel)
LocationS. County Rd., Palm Beach, Florida
Area105 acres (42 ha)
Built1925[2]
ArchitectSchultze & Weaver[2]
Architectural styleRenaissance Revival[2], Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Shingle Style
NRHP reference No.73000598[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 14, 1973

The Breakers Hotel is an 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 forbade 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.

But 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 hotel and grounds occupy 140 acres (57 hectares) beside the Atlantic Ocean.

The Breakers Hotel Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 1973, the 105-acre (42 ha) listed area included 15 contributing buildings and one other contributing object.[1]

The hotel is located at South County Road.

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. ^ a b c "The Breakers". Florida Heritage Tourism Interactive Catalog. Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. 2007-02-28.
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