There is so much Rococo revival glop in the Flagler mansion in Palm Beach it makes you want to poke your eyes out, or at least go to Ikea and stare at cardboard boxes till your vision recovers.



That was the drawing room, with the art case Steinway grand piano. The music room has it’s own organ.

Flagler was a partner in Standard Oil, and then went on to build a railway down the East Coast of Florida and invent the Florida tourist industry. As fitting for a railway baron, they still have his personal rail car.

The outside looks pretty much the same as it did when Flagler rode it. The inside has been “restored” to its original gloppy splendor.



However, since the car went down in the world to be used as housing for migrant workers before the museum bought it, not much of the interior is original.

There’s some interesting glassware…

… and a… a… OK, I have no idea what this is.

An ear trumpet with matching teacups? The Platonic ideal of a Texas Longhorn? A really inefficient mousetrap? Put it down with St Augustine’s ears as one of life’s mysteries.

Most of the art on the walls (and ceilings) is pretty nondescript, and was probably bought by the square foot. There’s a small and gloomy Canaletto but apart from that nothing by any noted artist. A couple caught my eye though. This searing indictment of church politics…

… and this one…

… which looks like another afternoon in Sussex.

Talking of unbridled debauchery, the nymph in the fountain is being leered at by encroaching satyrs.

I’m sure John Berger would have something to say about that.

The master bedroom has room to put on a ballroom dance, complete with orchestra.

The master bath is large enough for a Standard Oil board meeting…

… and it has its own phone line.

The guest rooms compete with one another for overpowering decor.

It makes the one that was decorated with an Arts and Crafts/Pre Raphaelite theme seem positively relaxing.

I didn’t think I would ever see the Pre Raphaelites as a breath of fresh air rather than a flatulent waft of swamp gas, but miracles happen.

Incidentally, all the guest rooms had doors directly connecting them to the adjacent rooms, allowing for the guests to indulge in the occasional Sussex afternoon without risk of scandal.