Henry Morrison Flagler Museum

The Henry Morrison Flagler museum is a magnificent palace built in Palm Beach in 1902 that closely rivals some of the most exquisite of palaces in Europe. It is designed and decorated in the Beaux-Arts style with close attention paid to every detail.

Henry Flagler had the mansion of 55 rooms designed by architects John Carrère and Thomas Hastings, and built as a winter retreat and wedding present for his third wife Mary Lily Kenan Flagler. The mansion called Whitehall is one of the large estates built at this time that are seen as examples of a coming of age in architecture and sophistication in the United States. Besides having the elements of the great design and art of any grand house in Europe, Whitehall adds the American refinement of efficiency and comfort incorporating the latest American domestic technology available at the time.

Henry, one of the barons of the Gilded Age, was a founding partner of Standard Oil. Henry also distinguished himself as a great visionary who was the first to begin developing Florida for tourism. Besides establishing many of Florida's historical hotels, Henry succeeded in building a railroad all the way from Jacksonville to the Florida Keys. Today, many streets, buildings and other Florida sites are named Flagler, after this great developer.

The Museum and its garden areas are well maintained. When stepping inside, the museum is as clean and fresh as it must have been in its early days. The tour leaders "docents" are knowledgeable and feel truly passionate about the museum. It is a pleasure just being there. The Museum is unusual in that it allows photographs to be taken as long as flash photography is not used.

The drawing room.

My favourite corner of the drawing room.

The dining room.

The breakfast room has an English look.

The music room is lit with Baccarat chrystal chandeliers.

The ballroom is fashioned after the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

The master bedroom.

Fit for a prince.

The gate and palms.

Many thanks to my twitter friend @Maybellinete for suggesting the visit to the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum. If you would like to see it in more detail, you might like visiting her blog known as Froulala by clicking on the link in the left column of this blog.