Historic Belleview Biltmore Hotel

The following is my exploration of the historic Belleview Biltmore Hotel. Paranormal investigation of the historic and reportedly haunted Belleview Biltmore Resort in Clearwater, Florida by Tim Huck of Dark House Entertainment on Saturday, Feb 21st 2009. It inspired me to create a special website dedicated to this Historic Hotel and others I plan to visit. I consider myself lucky to be able to take over 300 pictures of the inside, outside and secret areas of the Belleview Biltmore Resort prior to it’s closing at the end of May, 2009. The Belleview Biltmore will remain closed for up to 3 years for renovation. I have not seen anything on the internet that provides this much detail of the inside not even their own website. I decided to present it myself for those who are curious and seek this information of this historic hotels past . I have heard many stories of hauntings, a suicide, seen paranormal photographs and television news investigations that gave me a calling to revisit the place where a few years ago I was hired to participate in a national television commercial for the Toronto Blue Jays inside the Belleview Biltmore Hotel and snapped my first orb photo when my DJ partner stood next to Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay. I photoshopped it out because he thought it was a glitch in the camera, but I saved the original and here it is:

Orb by Tony Johnson with Lyle Overbay

Areas of the Hotel resemble the Overlook Hotel in The Shining which adds ambiance to my paranormal investigation.

The Shining like Biltmore Hotel

Due to overwhelming information I wish to provide I will be in a constant state of updating so check back often. If you have any personal experience or evidence you would like to provide contact me tim@clearwaterghosthunter.com Thanks to Orlando Ghost Tours who provided great information, EVP evidence, supplying EMF detectors

Leaving my mark at the Belleview's Haunted 4th Floor.

and access to parts of the Belleview Biltmore that is closed to the public. I highly recommend them. I will update this daily, check back often to hear my story. Here are some of the photos i took that night.

Maisie Plant

She Wore a Pearl Necklace.

Mae Cadwell Manwaring Plant, better known as Maisie, was born in 1878. Maisie was married to another man when she met Morton Plant, the son of Henry Plant, a self made transportation tycoon and land developer. Henry Plant built, among many other things, the first buildings of what is now the Belleview Biltmore Resort. Morton Plant was immediately “stricken” by Maisie and decided that he must marry her. He offered Maisie’s husband 8 million dollars–an offer to good to refuse. It was accepted, and Morton and Maisie were married in 1914. As a wedding gift, Morton gave Maisie a home, the Plant Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Sometime in their relationship, Maisie saw a strand of perfectly matched Oriental pearls, with a price of $1.2 million dollars, which she just had to have. She asked Morton to buy them for her, but he felt they were too expensive and he refused to purchase them. Maisie had her heart set on the pearls and felt that the $1.2 million dollar asking price was fair, but Morton would not budge. So Maisie figured a way to get them on her own.

She bartered the purchase of the pearls with the owner, a Mr. Cartier. He gave Maisie the pearls and she gave him the Plant Mansion on Fifth Avenue, which subsequently became the House of Cartier. It is open to this day on that location. We are very sorry to say that somewhere, sometime, Maisie’s pearls just seem to have vanished. Cartier Jewelers would love to have them in their collection. Big question today is, still, where are Maisie’s pearls?

Maisie is rumored to have lost her treasured jewelry at the Biltmore. Some say her ghost is still walking the halls looking for her lost pearls.

The Belleview Biltmore Hotel,”The White Queen of the Gulf,” is located at 25 Belleview Blvd., Belleair, Florida. It was built in 1896 and opened January 15, 1897. It has shingle-style elements. Michael J. Miller and Francis J. Kinnard were the architects.

Henry Plant

The Biltmore is four and a half stories, frame, three principal sections, each 400 feet long, broad verandahs built on enchanting landscape. It is the largest wood-frame building in Florida. Hotel constructed for Henry B. Plant, who developed the railway system on the Florida West Coast during the 1890s and sought to increase traffic by building tourist facilities.

John McEntee Bowman

In 1920 John McEntee Bowman purchased the hotel from the Plant Investment Company. John McEntee Bowman, was president of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corp, international sportsman and owner of the Biltmore chain of hotels. the new name Belleview Biltmore Hotel. So for 85 years, the name Biltmore is associated with the Belleview. The name Hence the beginning ofBiltmore is tied in with so many other Biltmore hotels around the country also. Bowman developed several Biltmore Hotels through the country during this time period, all bearing the Biltmore name, which was said to be drawn from the Vanderbilt family estate of the same name in North Carolina. Other owners include Bernie Powell who owned the Biltmore for 42 years, Mido, the Jetha Brothers, Urdang and now Legg Mason.

Bernie Powell with his daughters (late 1940's)

This national treasure has enriched the lives of guests since 1897. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and National Trust. Many famous dignitaries have been guests at this hotel including the President George Bush, President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald Ford, the former King of England, (the Duke of Windsor) the Vanderbilts, the Pew family of Sun Oil, the Studebakers, the DuPonts, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Lady Margaret Thatcher, baseball legends Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and entertainers Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan and Carol Channing. In World War II the hotel was closed to tourism, and the U.S. military moved in to train its troops. The windows were painted black so the enemycould not see the hotel at night.

Bob Dylan plays the Belleview Biltmore 4-22-1976

Resort will lay off 300

Published Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Biltmore Hotel photo by JIM DAMASKE

Instead, they’re linked to previously announced plans to close the 112-year-old hotel at the end of May to prepare for the landmark’s $100 million makeover, said Martin Smith, vice president and managing director of Belleview Biltmore Resort Ltd.

The layoffs, which include employees at the hotel’s Cabana Grill & Bar on Sand Key, coincide with seasonal layoffs, which usually affect about 30 to 40 workers during the hotel’s slower months.

“We’re going to have to say goodbye to a lot of great people,” Smith said.

Smith, who started meeting with workers this week to discuss the layoffs, said the resort is planning to host job fairs for the workers. And human resources staffers will work with employees to help them hone their interview and resume-writing skills, he said.

“I want them all to find jobs and take care of their families,” Smith said.

The hotel’s golf club will not close, and its employees will be spared. So will security and accounting workers, Smith said.

Meanwhile, renovations are in a holding pattern of sorts. A few residents have challenged Belleair leaders’ actions related to variances requested by the owner, Los Angeles-based Legg Mason Real Estate Investors, which bought the resort for nearly $30.3 million.

The legal challenge filed last summer stems from neighbors’ concerns about the location of the spa, across from condominiums. The neighbors allege town leaders showed favoritism toward the owner.

Last May, town leaders approved ambitious renovation and expansion plans for the historic resort. Plans include restoring the hotel’s main building and ballrooms, building a one-story spa west of the hotel, demolishing the much-maligned pagoda entrance and replacing parking lots with underground garages.

The owner could begin renovating the hotel, with the exception of the spa, if it chooses to do so, said Town Manager Micah Maxwell. But Joseph Penner, managing director of Legg Mason, said his company is awaiting the results of the challenge before moving forward. He said it was necessary to prepare for the project even if the appeal wasn’t resolved yet.

It’s not clear when the project will break ground. But the resort is slated to reopen in 2012, Smith said.

Lorri Helfand can be reached at lorri@sptimes.com or 445-4155.

Rare Video of Belleview Biltmore!