The North Entrance

This picture, courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, was taken just inside the north entrance of the hotel. The window on the right faces north. Outside the door, a long piazza stretched to the little train station. The tennis courts were on the east side of the piazza. From here, guests started their very long walk to the front desk.

The picture is rich in detail. The room looks to be set up for a high tea. Note the elegant lace tablecloths and curtains. A string surrounds the table beneath the sconce (center left) to keep guests away from some very fancy glass and china.

The china on the table to the right is white with green and orange trim. Examples are on display at The Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum located in the restored courthouse in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida.      

Ragtime

A clipping of a newspaper rotogravure page showing a view of the north entrance lobby taken from the same spot as this one, in a different year. Guests were treated to music throughout the hotel- there was at least one more piano, placed just outside the Garden Grill.

Photogravure courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

I'll Wait For You in the Lobby.

"The garden effect is carried to the interior interior decorations, where palms, ferns, crotons and other foliage plants are banked around the rotunda. The floors are carpeted in moss green and the walls are tinted in pale green and delicate pink. Even the furniture, in white and gold gives the place an air of summer that can not be erased from the mind. This is perpetual summer, with electric lights casting a glow over the scene , the opening Wednesday at dinner, was a pretty sight."

Palm Beach Daily News, Jan. 17, 1902. 

These photos, which come courtesy of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, show two adjoining rooms of the north entrance lobby. This was the first room guests saw as they entered the hotel after traversing the long piazza from the railroad depot. The windows at the rear face east offering a clear view of the Hotel Breakers across the island and the tennis courts just below.

The same room, taken from the adjoining room but on a different day (or year.) The pattern on the wicker furniture is different. The details of design in the carpeting as well as the pottery are crisp. Click to enlarge.

Hallway

This is a hi-res scan of the hallway outside the Garden Grill.  It's hand-colored but a pretty accurate look at the color scheme of the hotel. A piano sits at the end of the hallway- one of several scattered throughout the hotel. Off to the right were the staff dining rooms and barber shop. Behind you is a large lounge and the front desk.

The Garden Grill

The Garden Grill was located on the first floor just east of the front desk. The restaurant was "the most unique in America, with its hanging garden and patterres of flowers on every hand" (Palm Beach Life.) The Grill was a much more manageable size than the main dining room which could serve 1600 guests at once and covered 2/3 of an acre.
The top three pictures, A-C on the map, offer views of the restaurant from just inside the west entrance. The bottom picture- D on the map, offers a rare view of a public lounging area. A piano can be seen at the end of the hall.

Wish You Were Here

A rare view of the interior of the hotel. This is the Writing Room where guest can write letters and postcards to the folks back home.


The window to the right looks out over the piazza and Lake Worth. The "doorway" at the end of the room is actually a mirror. The camera is visible just outside the doorway (north end of the room.) A portion of a rotunda wall is visible behind the camera. Click to enlarge.
(Photo: Historical Society of Palm Beach County.)


Note the alligator motif of the flower vase! Click to enlarge.


Letterhead


Envelope


What better image to send home to friends and family in the frozen North? The pier stood just at the south side of the Breakers and served as the area's first port.