How Palm Beach's Old Money Built a Coast of Mansions and Then Bulldozed Them All: The Lost Estates

In 1957, after one last party at her house on the ocean, a widow called in the wrecking crews to tear down the grandest mansion the island had ever seen — 15 master bedrooms, an 80-foot stone hall, marble steps running straight into the Atlantic surf, on about 25 ocean-to-lake acres in the most carefully guarded town in Florida. When the crews finished, nothing was left but bare sand. The strangest part is that the town's own rules — the ones written to keep Palm Beach perfect — left her no other way out. This is the story of Playa Riente and the lost palaces of Palm Beach. Sources: https://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/pa... https://www.daytondailynews.com/local... https://www.floridamemory.com/items/s...