Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The Murderer’s Birds!
Elgin Public Museum
Tynemouth Castle.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle
Fresco on the ceiling of the chapel.
Cappella Sistina
View southwest from the trilobite quarry out to Cadiz Valley.
Marble Mountains Trilobite Quarry
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Florida St. Augustine The Ponce de León Hotel

The Ponce de León Hotel

A luxurious 1880s hotel with its fair share of Tiffany stained glass, Edison electricity, and of course, ghosts.

St. Augustine, Florida

Added By
Joshua Ginsberg
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The Ponce de León Hotel.   DXR
Austrian crystal chandeliers hanging from a Louis Tiffany ceiling design.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The rotunda in the main entrance.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The rotunda.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
Flagler College’s dining hall in the former Ponce de León Hotel.   Maksim Sundukov
Tiffany stained glass windows in the dining hall.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The Ponce de León Hotel.   senseofspace / Atlas Obscura User
The Ponce de León Hotel.   senseofspace / Atlas Obscura User
Lady Conquest   jlev / Atlas Obscura User
Electric Lights   jlev / Atlas Obscura User
Lady Discovery   jlev / Atlas Obscura User
A view from the side street   TravisMcGee / Atlas Obscura User
A most unusual fence   TravisMcGee / Atlas Obscura User
  thegenxjourney / Atlas Obscura User
  thegenxjourney / Atlas Obscura User
  breaingram / Atlas Obscura User
  breaingram / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
Flagler himself.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
  michaelamiller / Atlas Obscura User
The Ponce de León Hotel.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The fountain/sundial in the courtyard.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The largest piece of white white onyx in the western hemisphere, with a clock installed by Thomas Edison.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
Carvings of cherubs on dining hall chairs.   J Ginsberg / Atlas Obscura User
The Ponce de León Hotel.   senseofspace / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Ponce de León Hotel is so unique and opulent that the man who built it more than 100 years ago is rumored to still drop by from time to time.

Now the centerpiece of Flagler College, when it was originally constructed in 1888, it was viewed by many as the most luxurious hotel of its day. Built by Standard Oil co-founder and railroad tycoon Henry M. Flagler, the opulent building is filled with ingenious architectural secrets.

For one, it has had electricity since its opening. A novelty at the time, the building was wired for electricity by none other than Flagler's friend Thomas Edison. Unfortunately, Edison chose to use direct current generators, which would cause the bulbs to sometimes explode. Guests were so terrified by this that Flagler had to hire staff for the specific purpose of turning the switches on and off.

The courtyard fountain immediately draws the eye. From ground level it appears to be a fountain with 12 frogs carved at equal intervals around the outer edges and four turtles carved closer to the base. However when looking down at it from above, the fountain acts as a sundial—the frogs tell the hours, the turtles tell minutes.

The Rotunda, too, is perfect Belle Époque beauty. Painted with a wraparound mural symbolizing the four elements (Earth, Water, Air, and Fire) as standing goddesses, and the female figures of the four stages of European exploration (Adventure, Discovery, Conquest and Civilization), the ceiling is a dazzling gold artwork by George W. Maynard (who would go on to paint the murals in the the Treasures Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress). Maynard signed his name in the blue collar of Lady Discovery, although Flagler wanted the work unsigned.

Though this glimmering palace appears to be perfection incarnate, there are actually intentional flaws built into the architecture. Allegedly to keep the hotel from being an affront to God by being "too perfect," Flagler chose to incorporate some barely noticeable flaws. One example is the floor mosaic on the rotunda floor, in which every triangle, except for one, has a single white tip. Of course, it's just as possible that such flaws were the mistakes of an errant workman or two.

Upon entering the the dining hall, one might assume Flagler first years come here to be assigned a house by the sorting hat a la Harry Potter. The first and most obvious feature of the room are the windows, which comprise the single largest private, currently in-use collection of Tiffany stained glass works in the world. More subtle, but no less fascinating, are the chairs hand carved with disapproving cherubic faces.

In 2016, the Tiffany Glass was reviewed on an episode of Antiques Roadshow and said to be worth $3.5 million. After that, they were covered on both sides with bullet-proof glass to ensure they would not be ruined by hurricanes or man.

The Ladies Parlor is unbelievably opulent. It contains the largest piece of white onyx in the western hemisphere, carved and inlaid with an original Thomas Edison clock. Two Austrian crystal chandeliers (from mines that have now been depleted) dangle from the center of an ornate blue ceiling design also created by Louis Tiffany. 

During its days as a luxury resort the Ponce hosted some big names. Frederick Vanderbilt and William R. Rockefeller attended the opening. Presidents Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Warren Harding and Lyndon Johnson all stayed there, not to mention Mark Twain, Babe Ruth, Somerset Maugham, Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos and many others. Since Flagler College's acquisition of the hotel in 1968, only college students inhabit these halls.

Well, mostly. A few guests are said to have stuck around. In Saint Augustine (one of the oldest cities in the United States) no historic building is complete without a ghost or two. Among those said to haunt the hotel are Flagler's mentally ill wife, Ida Alice, who stares at a panel wall that used to display a portrait of her husband, a suicidal mistress of Flagler's (said to dangle from a chandelier on the fourth floor of the girls dormitory), a lady in blue, a mischievous little boy, and of course, Flagler himself, who strolls the corridors and surprises students from time to time by looming silently at foot of their beds.

Related Tags

Hotels Colleges Universities Ghosts Ghost Stories Technology Architecture

Know Before You Go

Tours depart daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. from inside the lobby of Flagler College. Tickets can be purchased up to 5 minutes before the start of the tour.

Community Contributors

Added By

J Ginsberg

Edited By

jlev, leslipeterson, LaurynSmith11, Molly McBride Jacobson...

  • jlev
  • leslipeterson
  • LaurynSmith11
  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • dawnthomas513
  • wmk13
  • diccen
  • laurenmishgraf
  • thegenxjourney
  • senseofspace
  • breaingram
  • TravisMcGee
  • michaelamiller

Published

May 12, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponce_de_Leon_Hotel
  • https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/geo-flor/26.htm
  • http://www.flagler.edu/about-flagler/hotel-to-college/
  • http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBD69_Ponce_de_Len_Hotel_Dome_St_Augustine_FL
  • https://365atlantatraveler.com/things-to-do-in-st-augustine/
  • https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element?wprov=sfti1
The Ponce de León Hotel
74 King St
St. Augustine, Florida
United States
29.892887, -81.314788
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Sacred Cat Rug

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Treasury Street

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Andrew Young Crossing

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of St. Augustine

St. Augustine

Florida

Places 21
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Sacred Cat Rug

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Treasury Street

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Andrew Young Crossing

St. Augustine, Florida

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of St. Augustine

St. Augustine

Florida

Places 21
Stories 1

Related Places

  • A celebrated architectural feat, the Blennerhassett hotel was adorned with elaborate window treatments, frescoes, and even a passenger elevator.

    Parkersburg, West Virginia

    The (Haunted) Blennerhassett Hotel

    The oldest hotel in West Virginia is reportedly frequented by ghosts.

    Sponsored by West Virginia Department of Tourism
  • The lift.

    Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Paternoster Lift

    This unusual elevator doesn’t stop or slow down.

  • The Mizpah Hotel

    Tonopah, Nevada

    The Mizpah Hotel

    In the middle of a remote desert town is a surprisingly opulent hotel.

  • Another wall, including the “Full Circle” pennant.

    Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Clover HSQ

    A Harvard-area eatery preserves the uncovered tiles of its century-old predecessor.

  • The courtyard in the main complex.

    Tatev, Armenia

    Gavazan Column at Tatev Monastery

    Centuries before the modern seismograph, Armenian monks measured quakes with this tilting pillar.

  • Hotel Alex Johnson.

    Rapid City, South Dakota

    Hotel Alex Johnson

    One of America’s oldest and spookiest hotels, thanks to the residency of ghosts, dead presidents, and Alfred Hitchcock.

  • Alternate view from the second floor

    Washington, D.C.

    Riggs Library

    A wondrous old library overlooking the nation's capital.

  • The Golden North Hotel

    Skagway, Alaska

    The Golden North Hotel

    A classic gold rush hotel can be expected to pick up some ghosts along the way, and the Golden North is no exception.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.