N Take a step back
MAR-A-LAGO 1100 S . OCEAN BLVD . PALM BEACH # 2 in a series
Mar-a-Lago is one of the most lavish of the mansions built in Florida in the early 20th century when the State was a wintering place for the country ' s wealthiest and most prominent families . Architecturally , it followed the contemporary vogue for the Spanish Revival , a style partiularly suited to the climate and history of the area . Henry M . Flagler , the man almost solely responsible for developing the resort economy of the State , introduced the Spanish Revival to Florida . In 1884 , he sent the fledgling architects , John Carrere and Thomas Hastings , to Spain for two years to gather impressions and ideas before beginning the design of the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St . Augustine . Flagler ' s commission launched an important architectural firm and established a style that was to dominate Florida resort architecture . Palm Beach was the most exclusive of the Florida resort communities in the early 20th century . Addison Mizner made the Spanish Revival style de rigueur for palatial building there . For their wealthy clients , he and Marion Sims Wyeth designed numerous Mediterranean villas with patios to take advantage of the winter sun and spacious rooms for lavish enteertaining . Mar-a-Lago is one of the grandest of these mansions . All of its elaborate decoration and fine furnishings remain intact . It is still surrounded by its landscaped grounds including a golf course on the shores of Lake Worth and a bathing beach on the Atlantic Ocean . Together the house and grounds provide an excellent picture of winter resort life in Palm Beach prior to the Depression .
Above : April 1967 , General view of living room looking southwest . Opposite page : April 1967 , Detail of west wall of dining room .
26 PORTFOLIO MAGAZINE