Marjory and I visited Palm Beach and Whitehall in February, 2014. This was the second "stop" on our tour of Florida Gilded Age mansions including Vizcaya in Miami and Ca' d'Zan in Sarasota. Whitehall is by far the largest of the three. At 100,000 square feet (including the lower floors of its one-time hotel addition), it is three times the size of Vizcaya. And unlike the others, Whitehall seems to have been constructed solely to impress.
Henry Morrison Flagler was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York. In 1853, he married Mary Harkness. They had three children, Jennie Louise, Carrie, Henry Harkness. Unfortunately, only Henry Harkness "Harry" Flagler would survive to have children. His daughter, Jean Flagler Matthews, later establish the Flagler Museum.
Flagler was at first in the salt business, later entering the grain business as a commission merchant in Cleveland, Ohio. There he met John D. Rockefeller, who had decided to leave the grain business to start his own oil refinery. In need of capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Henry Flagler, who invested $100,000 and became Rockefeller's 25% partner. In just two years Standard Oil became the leader in the American oil refining industry. As secretary / treasurer, it was Flagler who, in effect, invented the modern corporation. His day-to-day involvement with Standard Oil continued until the mid-1880s.
Flagler first became interested in Florida in 1878, when he wintered in Jacksonville because of his wife Mary's health. She passed in 1881, and Flagler married her nurse, Ida Alice Shourds, in 1883. Soon after their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, which they found charming but lacking in adequate hotels and transportation. Flagler believed that Florida had the potential to attract large numbers of tourists and began building hotels. He also purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad that he expanded to became the Florida East Coast Railway. By 1896, the railroad had reached Palm Beach and Miami, and by 1912, its Over-Sea Railroad extension reached Key West.
Flagler lost his second wife to mental illness. In 1901, Flagler married for the third time, to Mary Lily Kenan. Whitehall was built as a wedding present to Mary Lily in 1902. It was described by the New York Herald as, "... more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of stairs at Whitehall, passing from his injuries soon after. Some say that Henry and Mary Lily are still in residence.
Flagler commissioned Beaux-Arts architects Carrere and Hastings to design Whitehall. This resulted in a façade much like a temple. The Grand Hall is entered through large bronze doors. At 5,000 square feet, this marble-floored entry hall is the largest room in any Gilded Age home – large enough to contain two or three typical suburban dwellings. Ahead is a double staircase and, behind it, an open courtyard.
To the left is Flagler’s very masculine library. He used this room to meet with business associates. Next is the more-feminine music room that doubles as an art gallery. Mrs. Flagler used this room for club meetings and bridge parties. Further to the rear is the billiards room – large enough to make two massive billiards table and other games to appear quite small.
Across the south hall and behind the courtyard is the grand ballroom, nearly as large as the entry hall. When Whitehall was converted to a hotel in 1925, the lake front marbled terrace adjacent the ballroom was removed and replaced with a ten-story tower. While the hotel was removed in 1963, its two lower floors remain. As a result, this room no longer has a view of Lake Worth.
To the right of the entry hall is the salon or drawing room. This room is decorated with aluminum leaf which, at the time of construction, was as expensive and precious as gold.
Behind the drawing room are the dining room and breakfast room. Further to the rear were the butler’s pantry and kitchen, no longer in existence.
On the second floor are bedroom suites, each with its own bath and closet and each decorated in a different style. There are also servants quarters including space for the servants of the Flagler’s guests.
A 2005 addition to the property is the Flagler-Kenan Pavilion. In addition to a restaurant, it houses one of Flagler’s private railroad cars.
Unlike Florida’s other Gilded Age mansions, this home is not primarily a display of precious art and antiques. Many of the furnishing are reproductions or were created specifically for Whitehall. Whitehall is all about what money can buy, leaving it devoid of the love and personal affection shown by James Deering at Vizcaya and by the Ringlings at Ca’ d’Zan.
It is also interesting to compare Whitehall to the Rossetter house in Eau Gallie, Florida. Flagler was a founder of the Standard Oil Company while James Rossetter was a Standard Oil dealer. Both of their homes front the inter-coastal waterway and were built at about the same time. Both men have a connection to the Florida East Coast Railway – Flagler built it while Rossetter and Eau Gallie benefited from it. But there the similarities end. Though the Rossetters were somewhat well-to-do, their home would fit inside Whitehall at least 50 times.
Henry Morrison Flagler was born on January 2, 1830 in Hopewell, New York. In 1853, he married Mary Harkness. They had three children, Jennie Louise, Carrie, Henry Harkness. Unfortunately, only Henry Harkness "Harry" Flagler would survive to have children. His daughter, Jean Flagler Matthews, later establish the Flagler Museum.
Flagler was at first in the salt business, later entering the grain business as a commission merchant in Cleveland, Ohio. There he met John D. Rockefeller, who had decided to leave the grain business to start his own oil refinery. In need of capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Henry Flagler, who invested $100,000 and became Rockefeller's 25% partner. In just two years Standard Oil became the leader in the American oil refining industry. As secretary / treasurer, it was Flagler who, in effect, invented the modern corporation. His day-to-day involvement with Standard Oil continued until the mid-1880s.
Flagler first became interested in Florida in 1878, when he wintered in Jacksonville because of his wife Mary's health. She passed in 1881, and Flagler married her nurse, Ida Alice Shourds, in 1883. Soon after their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, which they found charming but lacking in adequate hotels and transportation. Flagler believed that Florida had the potential to attract large numbers of tourists and began building hotels. He also purchased the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad that he expanded to became the Florida East Coast Railway. By 1896, the railroad had reached Palm Beach and Miami, and by 1912, its Over-Sea Railroad extension reached Key West.
Flagler lost his second wife to mental illness. In 1901, Flagler married for the third time, to Mary Lily Kenan. Whitehall was built as a wedding present to Mary Lily in 1902. It was described by the New York Herald as, "... more wonderful than any palace in Europe, grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world." In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of stairs at Whitehall, passing from his injuries soon after. Some say that Henry and Mary Lily are still in residence.
Flagler commissioned Beaux-Arts architects Carrere and Hastings to design Whitehall. This resulted in a façade much like a temple. The Grand Hall is entered through large bronze doors. At 5,000 square feet, this marble-floored entry hall is the largest room in any Gilded Age home – large enough to contain two or three typical suburban dwellings. Ahead is a double staircase and, behind it, an open courtyard.
To the left is Flagler’s very masculine library. He used this room to meet with business associates. Next is the more-feminine music room that doubles as an art gallery. Mrs. Flagler used this room for club meetings and bridge parties. Further to the rear is the billiards room – large enough to make two massive billiards table and other games to appear quite small.
Across the south hall and behind the courtyard is the grand ballroom, nearly as large as the entry hall. When Whitehall was converted to a hotel in 1925, the lake front marbled terrace adjacent the ballroom was removed and replaced with a ten-story tower. While the hotel was removed in 1963, its two lower floors remain. As a result, this room no longer has a view of Lake Worth.
To the right of the entry hall is the salon or drawing room. This room is decorated with aluminum leaf which, at the time of construction, was as expensive and precious as gold.
Behind the drawing room are the dining room and breakfast room. Further to the rear were the butler’s pantry and kitchen, no longer in existence.
On the second floor are bedroom suites, each with its own bath and closet and each decorated in a different style. There are also servants quarters including space for the servants of the Flagler’s guests.
A 2005 addition to the property is the Flagler-Kenan Pavilion. In addition to a restaurant, it houses one of Flagler’s private railroad cars.
Unlike Florida’s other Gilded Age mansions, this home is not primarily a display of precious art and antiques. Many of the furnishing are reproductions or were created specifically for Whitehall. Whitehall is all about what money can buy, leaving it devoid of the love and personal affection shown by James Deering at Vizcaya and by the Ringlings at Ca’ d’Zan.
It is also interesting to compare Whitehall to the Rossetter house in Eau Gallie, Florida. Flagler was a founder of the Standard Oil Company while James Rossetter was a Standard Oil dealer. Both of their homes front the inter-coastal waterway and were built at about the same time. Both men have a connection to the Florida East Coast Railway – Flagler built it while Rossetter and Eau Gallie benefited from it. But there the similarities end. Though the Rossetters were somewhat well-to-do, their home would fit inside Whitehall at least 50 times.
50 or 30 times, which is it?
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