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For more than a century, the Belleview Biltmore Resort has bestowed Southern hospitality and unparalleled elegance to an impressive guest list. British royalty, heads of state, movie stars and professional athletes have all heralded the resort's distinctive charm. With a fascinating history laced with social prominence and a remarkable revitalization, the Belleview Biltmore Resort holds a rightful position on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Belleview Biltmore unites historic charm with contemporary amenities to bring guests an experience that is simply beyond compare. Join us for an exciting walk through the history of this remarkable grand dame resort.
January 15, 1897 – Grand Opening
The Belleview opens its doors and its 145 rooms to a gathering of founder and transportation magnate, Henry B. Plant's friends, family, and business associates. Also at this gathering are a host of area residents who watched in wonder, during the previous 18 months, as the magnificent structure that would soon become known as "The White Queen of the Gulf" took shape high above the Intracoastal Waterways of Clearwater. The original hotel is four stories high and runs four hundred feet from east to west and is ninety-six feet wide.
1898-99
The Belleview bicycle track, which includes a grandstand for viewing, is used for horse racing. The bicycle track has been described as wooden, asphalt and even brick. However, the Pinellas County Historical Museum lays claim to a section of the old bicycle path which is actually constructed of oyster shell. It was demolished between 1910 and 1914 to build one of the golf courses.
1899
A nine-hole golf course with sand greens is designed and constructed by Launcelot Cressy Servos.
June 23, 1899
Henry Plant dies suddenly at his Fifth Avenue home in New York City. His son, Morton, takes over as vice president of the Plant Investment Company and runs the Belleview until his death in 1918.
1900
Palm Cottage is built, the first in a series of private winter homes constructed on the hotel grounds for wealthy families.
Early 1900s
The original wood exterior, which has faded to a dull color, is painted a bright white and the roof is retiled with green shingles (instead of red). The Belleview then becomes known as the "White Queen of the Gulf".
The entrance bridge provides much more than access to the hotel. It houses a curio shop, antique shop, and two museums, one exhibiting mounted fish and the other mounted animals.
At his wife Margaret's urging, construction begins on an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Dedicated as always to excellence, Plant brings in tile setters from Italy to install the more than one million multi-colored ceramic tiles which line the seventy-five by sixty-foot pool.
The boat dock and bathing pavilion are popular with guests. Boats are available for fishing, sightseeing, and transportation to and from Sand Key Beach.
The Belleview Hotel purchases a 1917 American LaFrance fire engine. The hotel was one of the earliest hotels to have its own fire department and police force.
The Belleview Hotel is an ideal vacation spot for industry leaders such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Ford, although on vacation, has to be in constant contact with his plant in Detroit, so the Belleview is an excellent choice because telephone and telegraph service are available on the premises as well as a post office. Guests can even buy the Wall Street Journal and keep up with the stock market.
Although it never made the Top Ten, the Belleview is one of few hotels to have a waltz composed in its name. Plant commissioned Miss Stella Spurlin of Camden, Alabama, to compose "The Belleview Waltz" which was dedicated to Mrs. H.B. Plant.
The Stone Crab Club is formed. Its membership consists of guests who have spent at least five winters at the Belleview. Members are given a silver buckle in the shape of a crab, and at the annual party, stone crabs and champagne are always served.
The 120-foot East Wing is added, doubling the size and capacity of the hotel from 145 to 290 guest rooms. A new, much larger kitchen and dining room are established on the north side of the main wing.
John McEntee Bowman of the Biltmore Hotel chain purchases the hotel, now known as the Belleview Biltmore. Bowman also purchases the Belleview's sister hotel, the Griswold, in New London, Connecticut.
After young Henry Plant II is involved in an automobile accident, Morton Plant offers an endowment fund of $100,000 for maintenance of a hospital in Clearwater, provided the community can raise $20,000. Morton Plant Hospital opens in 1916 with twenty-one rooms.
Donald J. Ross is hired to design two golf courses and, even though it was commonly believed that grasses for greens wouldn¹t grow in Florida, Morton Plant experiments with grasses, fertilizers, and soils.
The Olympic swimming pool is used for Olympic Swimming Trials.
1920-1940
The roster of Belleview Biltmore guests reflect the aura of extravagance and indulgence of the time. Railroad presidents pull up on the Belleview Biltmore's side tracks in their private cars. The Studebakers, the DuPonts, the Pew family of Sun Oil, the Vanderbilts and others associated with "America's aristocracy" check in.
1920: The golf links are frequented by some of the most famous golfers and athletes in the country, including baseball player Rube Marzard, golfer Gene Sarazen, baseball great Babe Ruth and golfer Johnny Farrell..
1924: The second and final addition is begun. When complete, the hotel has 425 rooms; of these, 380 are guest rooms. The rest are used for staff and administrative purposes. James H. Ritchie of Brookline, Massachusetts, is the architect for this $1 million expansion, which includes the construction of the South Wing and an addition to the dormitory, as well as enlarging the grand dining room, the Tiffany Room.
1939: Arnold Kirkeby purchases the Belleview Biltmore. Kirkeby started his career as an investment security salesman in 1919. He moved on the become president of the K Corporation, the K Natus Corporation, Warwick Realty and formed the Kirkeby Hotel chain.
1940s
The Belleview Biltmore is completely self-sufficient, with its own post office, police and fire departments that also serve the Town of Belleair, with the general manager acting as postmaster.
1940: Kirkeby and his wife, known as "the most gracious hosts from coast to coast," host the Brooklyn Dodgers for spring training. The upper deck of the pool house is removed, since sunbathing has become a popular pastime.
1942: The Belleview Biltmore enters the war effort when it is requisitioned by the U.S. Army Air Corps to provide extra housing for servicemen training at MacDill and Drew Air Fields in Tampa. Immediately, the hotel¹s ledgers and registers, antique furniture, furnishings, supplies and equipment are removed and stored in warehouses. Later most of these items were used in other Kirkeby hotels or sold at auction, resulting in the loss of a major portion of the hotel¹s history. The hotel¹s seventeen hundred windows, as well as the glorious panels between the hallway and the Tiffany Room are slathered with heavy coats of black paint to block escaping light. Submarine scares are common as nervous soldiers and Floridians keep watch on the waters of Clearwater Bay and the Gulf of Mexico beyond. The post office, police and fire departments are moved off hotel property and become the responsibility of the Town of Belleair.
1943: The government requires the hotel to hook up to Florida Power. Until now, the hotel had its own power plant and water pump system.
1943: August: The U.S. Army Corp moves out. On the last day of their residence, the installation of a brand-new, state-of-the-art $100,000 sprinkler system is completed. The Belleview¹s corridors are silent for the first time.
1944: Kirkeby sells the Belleview Biltmore to multi-millionaire Ed C. Wright at auction for $275,000. Ed C. Wright made his fortune during the Depression dealing in municipal bonds and defaulted coupons. During Wright’s ownership, the Belleview Biltmore remains closed.
1946: Wright sells the Belleview Biltmore to a group of investors from Detroit headed by Bernard and Mary Powell, his sister Nora Peabody and Roger L. Stevens. Mr. Powell was an attorney admitted to practice before the Supreme Court. Mr. Stevens was a part owner in the Empire State Building in New York City and a Broadway theatrical producer. He was also the guiding light behind the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
1947: January 10: Somehow the impossible was accomplished in time for the gala reopening of the renovated and redecorated Belleview Biltmore. These years are devoted to restoring the Belleview Biltmore to her original splendor. New plumbing, new wiring, fresh paint, and the reopening of the golf courses highlight the restoration.
The late 1940s – Early 50s
For eight seasons, Cal Gifford, popular band leader and music director, appears at the Belleview Biltmore. The band plays at the swimming pool every day for lunch, always opening with "Anchors Away." The band also plays in the lounge before dinner and provides dance music for the rest of the evening as well as for shows in the Starlight Room.
1953: The Duke of Windsor spends the winter season at the Belleview Biltmore.
The 1950s to the Present
1958: The Belleair Fire Department, which had been housed on the grounds since 1917, is relocated in town.
1963: Powell builds and equips the Cabana and Beach Club, which provides a beautiful white sandy, gently sloping beach across the Intracoastal Waterway from the hotel.
1975: Aluminum siding is installed on the Belleview Biltmore. It takes a crew of fifteen men, working ten hours a day, six days a week for four months to install the 1,800-plus squares of siding and more than 5.8 miles of aluminum window trim. Previously, it took one thousand gallons to paint this elegant resort.
1979: The Belleview Biltmore is proudly named to the National Register of Historic Places.
1985: The Belleview Biltmore receives two very prestigious designations: Mobil Travel Guide gives the Belleview Biltmore the Four-Star Award and World Tennis Magazine names her a Five-Star Tennis Resort.
1985: December: Powell and his co-owners sign a three-year lease option agreement with a partnership comprised of developer Charles Rutenberg, spa executive Salu Devnani and Belleview General Manager Christopher Reyelt to operate the Belleview Biltmore and to keep her open year-round. The partnership also pours $10 million into a renovation of the guest rooms and the construction of a new, luxurious, state-of-the-art spa.
1993: Hulk Hogan announces in a press conference at the Belleview Biltmore that he would star in a two-hour pilot for CBS, entitled, "Thunder in Paradise."
1995: The Belleview Biltmore becomes a television star, used as a backdrop for the filming of a segment of ABC-TV's family drama entitled "Second Noah."
1997: Lady Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, is welcomed to the Belleview Biltmore.
2007: June 20: Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, Inc. purchased the Belleview Biltmore with plans to fully restore the property beginning in May of 2009.
2008: September: Just before his election to the Presidency of the United States, Senator Barack Obama enjoyed a stay at the Belleview Biltmore. Unfortunately, he had to shorten his planned trip after being called to the White House due to the Wall Street crisis, but said he hopes to return. |
