In 1937, fanancier Edward Ball took his idea of quiet elegance and placed it gently in the most serene place he'd found on his international travels...Wakulla Springs. He imported marble and tile, hired artisans in iron and stone, and introduced to the world a most unique retreat.
To explore the history of this grand hotel is to take a voyage back in time...to Florida's "land boom"...those glorious days when people and money flowed in the Sunshine State, braving swamps and mud slides...with an eye to the future. Two such visionaries were Alfred I. DuPont, and his brother-in-law and business manager...Edward Ball.
Edward Ball personally handled all facets of the design and construction of Wakulla Springs Lodge, and construction began on the two-story hotel in 1935.
The Spanish influence is evident in the massive masonry and stucco walls, tile roofs, arched windows and wrought iron grill work surrounding the windows and doorways. The interior of the walls is built-up brick face, then a layer of concrete, and then a finish of plaster.
The ceiling of the lobby is "heart" cypress as are all doors and other major uses of wood. Heart cypress is the very interior of the tree. And all of the cypress logs used in the Lodge were obtained locally as "dead heads"...a cypress that has fallen into water and been immersed for 50 years or longer, makingit impervious to rot.
The lobby ceiling gets the most attention from its decorative painting, which was actually an afterthought. A German named Piplack approached Ball in the lobby and explained that he could paint "nice designs" on the ceiling. Ball accepted the offer with glorious results apparent.
It was later revealed that Mr. Piplack was not just another painter...he had been the last court painter for Kaiser Wilhelm. His work is breathtaking in scope and inspired in detail. Art of three cultures are blended so harmoniously that it appears at first to be Spanish-Moorish. But closer examination shows it to be a combination of European fold art-a motif common from Italy through Scandinavia, notably Germanic, with intricate Arabic scroll work - and Native American, depicting local wildlife scenes.
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| The world's longest known marble bar, at 70 feet three inches, is in the gift shop. This marble is "face matched"...eight pieces that were cut from one block of marble. This process is known as quarter-sawing: a block of marble is cut in half, they are each cut in half again, and each quarter in half...to get eight panels...thereby producing a matching grain pattern. |
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