Carrère & Hastings

In 1885 multi-millionaire industrialist Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913) initiated a grand scheme to turn Florida's east coast into the "American Riviera" and the city of St. Augustine into the "Winter Newport." The Hotel Ponce de Leon, which was constructed in 1885-1887, was intended as the flagship of Flagler's resort empire. This palatial Spanish Renaissance Revival hotel, with Italian, French and Moorish influences, was the first major commission for the Carrère & Hastings architecture firm.

John M. Carrère (1858-1911) and Thomas Hastings (1860-1929) were American architects of the late-19th and early-20th centuries who specialized in Beaux Arts architecture. The Carrère & Hastings firm designed more than 600 buildings, including the New York Public Library (1902-11) and the U.S. House and Senate Office Buildings in Washington, D.C. (1908-09). They were partners from 1885 until Carrère died in 1911. Hastings continued to practice, managing the firm until he died in 1929.

The Hotel Ponce de Leon opened in 1888 and was operated by Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Hotel Company. Nationally significant for both its architecture and engineering, the building is the first large cast-in-place concrete building in the U.S. The hotel was constructed using poured concrete mixed with local coquina. The design reflected the wealth and extravagance of the upper-class during the Gilded Age. Members of the design team included Louis Comfort Tiffany, Thomas Edison, Bernard Maybeck, George Willoughby Maynard, and Pottier & Stymus. The firm of McGuire & McDonald was hired to supervise construction of the Hotel.

The Hotel was operation for almost 80 years. During World War II the building was used as a Coast Guard Training Center. Hotel operations ceased in 1967, and in 1968 the hotel became part of the campus for the newly established Flagler College as Ponce de Leon Hall. The building was added to the National Register in 1975 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

In addition to the Hotel Ponce de Leon, Flagler commissioned the Carrère & Hastings firm to design several other projects in St. Augustine. The Grace Methodist Church was constructed in 1886-1887 (National Register 1979). The Hotel Alcazar, now known as the Lightner Building was constructed in 1888-1889 (National Register 1971). The Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1889-1890 (National Register 1983). Flagler's private residence, Kirkside, was constructed in 1893.

Sources: Leslee Keys, Flagler College, "Historical Background on the Hotel Ponce de Leon", 2011. Susan R. Braden, The Architecture of Leisure: The Florida Resort Hotels of Henry Flagler and Henry Plant, 2002.

From the guide to the Flagler College's Hotel Ponce de Leon Architecture Collection, 1886-1963, 1886-1924, (Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida)