Belleview Biltmore
Thanks to the Clearwater Library, I found some old pictures that Jim Covington took back in the 70’s. I thought I would share them with you. The new Belleview Inn is about to have a grand opening showing off it’s complete restoration of a small portion of the old hotel. We all have fond memories of the Belleview Biltmore as it was in the past.
This is a portion of what Wikipedia has to say about our history:
The Belleview-Biltmore Resort and Spa was a historic resort hotel located at 25 Belleview Boulevard in the town of Belleair, Florida, United States. The 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) hotel structure was the last remaining grand historic hotel of its period in Florida that existed as a resort, and the only Henry Plant hotel still in operation when it closed in 2009. The building was noted for its architectural features, with its unique green sloped roof and white wood-sided exterior, and extensive handcrafted woodwork and Tiffany glass inside. Constructed of native Florida pine wood, it was said to be the largest occupied wood frame structure in the world during its heyday.
The Belleview-Biltmore is situated along the eastern shores of Old Clearwater Bay, with views of the bay and the barrier islands which border the Gulf of Mexico. The hotel was built in 1897 by railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 26, 1979, but was removed in 2017.
The hotel closed in 2009 and thereafter the property deteriorated from neglect. Despite the venerable hotel’s historic designation and efforts by preservation groups to save it, various proposals to restore the property as a resort hotel were unsuccessful and the owners began demolition in 2015 for planned condominiums. A portion of the 1897 structure has been saved and relocated on a new foundation to be used as a boutique inn.[3]
The Belleview-Biltmore has hosted many famous people, dignitaries and world leaders through the years, including U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Duke of Windsor, and celebrities such as Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. The hotel is thought by some to be the site of ghost sightings and other paranormal events. The Hotel was featured in a segment on the Weird Travels series on the Travel Channel television network in the U.S., which was filmed in March 2004 by Authentic Entertainment.
