ROAD TRIP PALM BEACH

This dazzling and privileged enclave is just a dreamy drive up A1A from The Boca Raton

BY MARIE SPEED

LORIDA’S ICONIC COASTAL HIGHWAY

A1A offers a scenic cruise up the Atlantic Coast—and nowhere is this drive more stunning than the 28 miles between Boca Raton and Palm Beach. From small towns like Delray Beach and Gulf Stream through the lush canopy of tropical trees leading into Manalapan, the views open up wide after Sloan’s Curve, when a vista of turquoise ocean spans to your right, countered by sprawling oceanfront mansions on your left. You have arrived in Palm Beach, for more than a century the golden dream of Florida. Hovering in a delicate stratosphere of wealth, beauty and well-ordered privilege, it is an island of sweeping ocean-to-lake mansions, soaring razor-edged ficus hedges, Rolls-Royces parked cheek to jowl with Bentleys and Lambos and the obligatory white Range Rovers.

It is the place of Kennedys and Lauders and Phipps, aging actors and titans of Wall Street. A place of myth and history, Gloria Swanson and Joe Kennedy rendezvousing in a Ta-boo bathroom, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor holing up at the Colony, Marjorie Merriweather Post teaching people to square dance in a gilded ballroom.

It is our Newport, our last link to aristocracy and now, even a century after Henry Flagler created it, it is still having its moment. Here are a few ways to experience it on your own.

Strolling Worth Avenue

You’ll know you’ve arrived on Worth Avenue, the island’s iconic shopping street, when you see the stately clock tower on its east end. Turn left, park and discover Worth Avenue, one of the most exclusive shopping districts in the world, and a commercial heartbeat in Palm Beach. Its growth was an indirect offshoot of the private Everglades Club, whose weekly luncheon fashion shows served as a launch pad for designers like Valentino, Blass, Givenchy, Madame Greis and Pauline Trigère—the beginning of Worth Avenue’s rich fashion history.

Much of the three-block-long destination was designed by Addison Mizner, original architect of The Boca Raton, in a distinctive Italianate style, with arched doorways and tumbling bougainvillea. The Avenue continues the tradition of couture as well as art galleries, home furnishings, jewelry stores and more—all in the context of Old World Mediterranean architecture and tropical ambiance. Don’t miss the grave of Johnnie Brown, Mizner’s pet monkey, in Via Mizner, or a chance to explore the charming European courtyards, known as vias, that are tucked in intervals along the street.

The Exploration Options

DIY: The Lake Trail

Skirting the western perimeter of the island is the Lake Trail, a major thoroughfare 100 years ago, but today a great bike and walking path that offers an up-close look at Palm Beach. These are your points of interest:

• B egin at the North Bridge. E.R. Bradley’s casino once occupied the corner; all that remains on the site now is a fireplace.

• T he Biltmore once housed exclusive shops near the Beaux Arts Fashion Center complex, which was the shopping center of the day.

• T he houses on Hi-Mount Road, built on what is known as the coral cut, north of Country Club Drive, and the famous iron grate long rumored by children to house a witch.

• T he shingle-styled private home at 549 N. Lake Way was built in 1894 and served as Palm Beach’s first church until 1925 when the Gothic-style Episcopal Church of Bethesdaby-the-Sea opened on South County Road.

• A n 1897 house called “The Vicarage” at 475 N. Lake Way was once home to Bethesda’s vicar and later to the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

• D uck’s Nest (561 N. Lake Way), built in 1891, was thought to have been assembled in two parts and shipped by barge from New York.

• A ll that is left at the northernmost end of the island is a broad dock, once home to Annie’s Tackle Shop and Dock, torn down in the early 1980s, a mainstay for boaters and residents alike.

Limo Tours

Take a walking, driving or biking tour of the island with your own private guide through Leslie Diver’s Island Living

Tours (561/868-7944; islandlivingpb.com). Driving tours range from 90 minutes to 2.5 hours and include a walk through the vias on Worth Avenue. Biking tours (bikes not included—you can rent them at the Palm Beach Bicycle Trail Shop) are 90 minutes each, and are a great way to ogle the Island’s grand landmarked estates designed by the “Fab Four” of esteemed Palm Beach architects: Addison Mizner, Marion Sims Wyeth, John Volk and Maurice Fatio.

Walking Tour

Every Wednesday between December and April, the Worth Avenue Association presents hour-long walking tours of the Avenue with historian Rick Rose. These lively tours explore the origins and character of Worth Avenue, its unique architecture, the historical significance of many of its legendary landmarks and some of its famous residents. For more details, call the Worth Avenue Association at 561/655-6909.

Landmark Houses In Palm Beach

1Arguably the most famous house in Palm Beach aside from the Flagler Museum is Mar-a-Lago, built in 1924-1927 and originally owned by socialite and heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post (and later, “winter White House” of former President Donald Trump), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property was once an epicenter of early Palm Beach’s social season. 1100 S. Ocean Blvd.

The “ham-and-cheese house,” nicknamed for its alternating bands of red brick and coral keystone, was originally called Casa Eleda and was built in 1928. It was designed by Maurice Fatio, the architect to Rockefellers and Vanderbilts, whose opulent homes inspired Cole Porter to say, “I want to live on Maurice Fatio’s patio.” 920 S. Ocean Blvd.

The “John Lennon house” was bought by Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1980. Its proper name is El Solano, and it was built in 1919 and designed by society architect Addison Mizner. Both Mizner and Harold K. Vanderbilt lived in the house at different times, but Lennon and Ono bought the house from socialite Brownie McLean, who had famously (and unwittingly) rented the estate at one time to Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine. Yoko Ono sold the house in 1986. 720 S. Ocean Blvd.

4The former Kennedy family estate in Palm Beach, Florida, was once a Winter White House and family compound and, later, the setting for the infamous Kennedy rape trial in the 1990s. The house has 200 feet of ocean frontage and was built in the 1920s. Joseph P. Kennedy bought the estate in 1941, and John F. Kennedy is said to have written his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, at the house while recovering from back surgery in 1956. In 1963, the president spent the weekend there before heading to Dallas, where he was assassinated. The Kennedy family sold the property in 1995. 1095 N. Ocean Drive

5The Duck’s Nest, built in 1891, is the second oldest house in Palm Beach. The architecture reflects the island’s first houses, from the gabled roofs to the expansive front porch. According to the Palm Beach Daily News, the “house got its name from the ducks that roosted on what was once an extensive freshwater marsh on the east side of the house.” The News says the house was expanded “over the years—including additions by society architects Marion Sims Wyeth and John L. Volk” and won a prestigious award from the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach for a recent renovation effort. 303 Maddock Way

Cultural Touch Points

Flagler Museum, Palm Beach

Explore Henry Flagler’s Beaux Arts mansion Whitehall— and his private railcar. At the corner of Cocoanut Row and Whitehall Way, the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission is $26 for adults ages 13 and up, $13 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children 5 and younger. Call 561/655-2833 or visit flaglermuseum.us.

Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach

This multi-building campus houses a concert hall, gallery space, cinema, and library and is most well-known for its top-rate, signature O’Keeffe Speaker Series, running Tuesday afternoons from January to April, featuring nationally renowned figures from the realms of politics, media, arts and entertainment. Most buildings in the Society, at Four Arts Plaza, are open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The sculpture garden and botanical garden are open seven days a week from 10 to 5, weather permitting. Call 561/655-7226 or visit fourarts. org for details and current scheduling.

Pan’s Garden, Palm Beach

Pan’s Garden is a half-acre filled with southern magnolia trees, scarlet milkweeds and about 300 more species of Florida native vegetation. At 386 Hibiscus Ave., Pan’s Garden is open to the public Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. General admission to the gardens is free. Call 561/832-0731.

Dining

Fine dining is a byword in Palm Beach, with a wide range of options. Here are just a few. Reservations are highly recommended.

On Worth Avenue:

• Bice, 313 Worth Ave., 561/8351600

• Renato’s, 87 Via Mizner, 561/655-9752

• Le Bilboquet, 245a Worth Ave., 561/812-2363

Off Worth Avenue:

• Buccan, 350 S. County Road, 561/833-3450

• S ant Ambroeus, 340 Royal Poinciana Way, 561/285-7990

• La Goulue, 288 S. County Road, 561/284-6292