This Iconic Palm Beach, Florida, Resort Is a Tennis Lover's Dream and the Perfect Family Trip

"I've been coming to Florida on a very regular basis my whole life-for family holidays, Space Shuttle launches, spring training baseball, or just for a cheeky dose of sunshine. I still know the state's highways and byways better than those of my native New Jersey. Even though Palm Beach-the most gilded of Florida's Gold Coast towns-is going through seismic change due to the influx of younger, Northern wealth, it always manages to be its opulent, cloistered self."

"The resort was founded in 1896 when the industrialist, oil tycoon, and namesake of many Florida roads, Henry Morrison Flagler, built The Palm Beach Inn on the site. Many guests preferred the rooms facing the sea, "down by the breakers," to the ones in the main hotel building, so when Flagler rebuilt the hotel after a 1903 fire, he changed the name. The Breakers, the new four-story, colonial-style, 425-guest-room hotel, reopened for the season the following year."

"Following another tragic fire-and this time with Flagler's heirs at the helm-the hotel underwent another expansion and welcomed back guests for the 1926-27 season as the finest resort in America. That striking, seven-story Italianate behemoth, the focal point of 140 seafront acres, is what I saw when I drove up for a stay earlier this year. Designed by the architecture firm of Schultze & Weaver-which went on to design the Waldorf Astoria New York -The Breakers was inspired by Italy's Villa Medici and all things Italian Renaissance, with its loggias, twin Belvedere t"

Palm Beach remains an opulent, cloistered enclave despite demographic shifts brought by younger Northern wealth. The Breakers began as the Palm Beach Inn in 1896, built by industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler. Guest preference for sea-facing rooms led to the renamed Breakers after a 1903 fire and a four-story, 425-room colonial-style rebuild. A subsequent destructive fire prompted Flagler's heirs to expand and reopen the resort for the 1926-27 season as a premier American resort. The current seven-story Italianate hotel anchors 140 seafront acres and reflects Italian Renaissance influence in design elements by Schultze & Weaver.

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