Belleview Biltmore Hotel

Posted by Barbara (Florida, United States) on 15 April 2008 in Architecture.

Sorry for the small view, this is sort of a whimsical put together.
Here is some history on this magnificent hotel that still operates today:

Built by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant. Grand Opening January 15, 1897, 820,000 sq. ft. hotel located in Clearwater, Florida.
The impressive guest list includes British royalty, the Studebakers, the DuPonts, the Pew family of Sun Oil, the Vanderbilts "America's aristocracy" in addition to heads of state, movie stars and professional athletes.
It is said to be the largest occupied wood frame structure in the world. Pine from Georgia and Florida was used in it's construction nearly impervious to termites, is also virtually uninflammable.

In 1975 Aluminum siding was installed on the Belleview Biltmore. It took 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.

In 1985 $10 million was poured into a renovation of the guest rooms and the construction of a new, luxurious, state-of-the-art spa.
On June 20, 2007
Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, Inc. purchased the Belleview Biltmore with plans to fully restore the property beginning in May of 2009.

For more detail history you can check out Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belleview_Biltmore