Flagler College

outside view, walking up

the fountain in the front courtyard

the lobby

the powder room, where meetings are still held

dining hall

dining hall

This was once the lavish hotel Ponce de Leon, it opened in 1888. Only the very wealthy such as Rockefeller and U.S. Presidents stayed at this hotel. Once Henry Flagler (hotel owner) passed away the hotel closed but then was reopened as Flagler College. I can't believe how beautiful this building is inside. The dining hall where the students eat is the same room that held dinner for these wealthy and important people. It has real Tiffany windows and chandeliers that Louis Comfort Tiffany created himself.

We learned so much information about this hotel/college... For example we learned that the fountain in front of the school looks the way it does to represent a sword handle as if the sword is down in the cement. The fountain also has twelve frogs on the outside where the water is held to represent the numbers of a clock. There are also four turtle in the fountain facing outward to represent the four season. Another tidbit of information, if you were to look at the college from an aerial view the courtyard represents an old Celtic cross.

This was something that I was very glad that I took the time to see.