The Breakers Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida

The main fountain at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, FL was built during the construction of the current hotel in 1926. It is based on a Renaissance original located at the Pitti Palace entrance to the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy. The fountain was created from designs by Leo Lentelli, a sculptor who contributed extensively to the sculptural decoration of the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco in 1915, including the design for a central feature similar to the Breakers’ fountain.

The cast stone fountain consists of a central sculptural feature of four nymphs supporting two tiers of basins, spindles and a finial within an octagonal pool. There are eight putti holding either alligators or herons alternating around the basin atop the corners of the pool copings. The pool is raised within a stepped plaza that is centrally sited at the terminus of the main entrance drive just west of the hotel entrance.

In early 2007, Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) assessed the main fountain at the entrance to The Breakers’ Hotel and developed treatment recommendations for its restoration. The goal was to observe and document the conditions of the fountain’s structure and mechanical operations, determine deficiencies in either, and ascertain the cause and extent of the deficiencies in order to determine a method to restore the fountain to its original state and operation. The conservation goal is to preserve the existing materials or replicate them as needed in a way consistent with the requirements of a landmark historic site while providing mechanical operations that meet current building codes and standards.

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