{{short description|Historic hotel building in U.S. state of Florida built in 1927}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Harder Hall | nrhp_type = | image = HarderHall.jpg | caption = Harder Hall | location = 3300 Golfview Dr., Sebring, Florida | coordinates = {{coord|27|28|11|N|81|28|3|W|display=inline,title}} | built = 1925 | architect = William Manly King | architecture = Spanish Colonial Revival | added = 20 June 1990 | area = {{convert|12.5|acre}}<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web | title=Feb 15, 1988, page 11 - The Miami Herald at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/633359819 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203102059/https://www.newspapers.com/image/633359819 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500125|title=Sebring MPS}} | refnum = 90000341<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }}
'''Harder Hall''' is a historic former hotel building in Sebring, Florida. It is located on Lake Jackson, at 3300 Golfview Drive. It was regarded as one of the "Grande Dame hotels of Florida",<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Buffalo News 04 Mar 1979, page 64 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/873530860 |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> until its closing in 1986. The hotel was designed by renowned Palm Beach architect William Manly King, and was considered the social center of Sebring.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web | title=Apr 28, 1991, page 287 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/389554378 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505024327/https://www.newspapers.com/image/389554378 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2025-05-05}}</ref> On June 20, 1990, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
In late 2022 former St. Petersburg City Council Member Robert G. Blackmon purchased the hotel for 4 million dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=PHIL ATTINGER Staff |title=Harder Hall sold for $4M |url=https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/highlands_news-sun/harder-hall-sold-for-4m/article_ae917b32-2a17-11ed-83b5-63185ae53587.html |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Mid Florida Newspapers |date=3 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
== History== ===Construction=== Vincent S. Hall acquired 2000 acres on Little Lake Jackson for construction of a resort to be part of the Biltmore Hotel chain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tampa Tribune 13 Feb 1988, page 51 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/337200307 |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> Hall, who was also involved in the Miami Biltmore Hotel, partnered with Lewis Harder to make the plan a reality. Billed as "the Coral Gables of Central Florida",<ref>{{Cite web | title=Port Charlotte Sun 31 Dec 2017, page SEA5 - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/823065146 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415225019/https://www.newspapers.com/image/823065146 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2023-04-15}}</ref> the resort was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture popular during the period and contained 200 rooms, with a length of 630 feet and a height of 160 feet.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Mar 27, 1926, page 32 - The Tampa Times at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332733614 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505024327/https://www.newspapers.com/image/332733614 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2025-05-05}}</ref> It had approximately {{convert|50000|sqft|m2}} square feet of rooms and halls, {{convert|35000|sqft|m2}} of public areas including a mezzanine lobby. The {{convert|4200|sqft|m2|adj=on}} great room and banquet room both had {{convert|22|ft|m|0|adj=on}} ceilings with large french doors that overlook the lake.
"Harder Hall" was named for its developers, Lewis F. Harder and Vincent Hall, both of West Palm Beach.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Mar 23, 1970, page 28 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/325213567 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505024327/https://www.newspapers.com/image/325213567 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2025-05-05}}</ref> Construction of the resort began in 1925,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tampa Tribune 02 Mar 1994, page 53 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/339932850 |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> prior to the end of the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The firm responsible for the construction of the building, Schultze and Weaver, were also responsible for the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1927, before opening, Harder and Hall went bankrupt on the project;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Port Charlotte Sun 29 Sep 2017, page SEA10 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/823223472 |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> it was then purchased by a group including US Congressman Edgar Raymond Kiess, with Vincent Hall returning as resident manager.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Sep 12, 1927, page 16 - The Tampa Times at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332819637/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203072236/https://www.newspapers.com/image/332819637/ | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> On January 21, 1928,<ref>{{Cite web | title=Feb 13, 1988, page 52 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/337200320 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203230424/https://www.newspapers.com/image/337200320 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> the classic Spanish Style hotel and golf resort opened on the shore of Little Lake Jackson.
===Operation===
From the start, Harder Hall was heralded as "a high class hotel that has been called the finest in Florida" where "the highest types of society gather for balls and social events of the exclusive set".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332755456/?match=1&terms=harder+hall+sebring+governor|title=Sep 26, 1925, page 52 - The Tampa Times at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Featured hotel activities included golfing, tennis, boating, swimming, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and more.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Nov 16, 1925, page 12 - Elmira Star-Gazette at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/276246809 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505024337/https://www.newspapers.com/image/276246809 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2025-05-05}}</ref> Department store magnate S. S. Kresge spent his honeymoon at the resort,<ref>{{Cite web | title=Nov 28, 1928, page 1 - The Bee at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/47442191 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203070611/https://www.newspapers.com/image/47442191 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> while Statler Hotel founder Ellsworth Milton Statler spent winters there.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tampa Times 07 Feb 1928, page 18 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332742395/ |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref>
Novelist Rex Beach lived at the hotel for a period in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite web| title=The Ephrata Review | date=March 8, 1929 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/742713612/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203074037/https://www.newspapers.com/image/742713612/ | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> Beach's brother in law, famed comedian Fred Stone, made national headlines when he went golfing at the resort in 1929, his first public outing without crutches since he had been injured in a plane crash the year before.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411928472/|title=Feb 24, 1929, page 72 - Daily News at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332383469/|title=Jan 27, 1929, page 1 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/90080985/|title=Feb 25, 1929, page 21 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
A number of notable performers appeared at the hotel over the years, including actress Vilma Ebsen<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/223081848/|title=Feb 10, 1929, page 19 - The Orlando Sentinel at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
It greatly benefitted from its proximity to the Sebring International Raceway and was the hotel of choice for many of the affluent drivers who competed in the 12 Hours of Sebring race, and of the celebrities and who attended the festivities.<ref name="auto"/> The resort hosted many pre and post race parties, as well as award banquets. Harder Hall "virtually always has been Sebring race headquarters, if not officially, unofficially, and surely socially"<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web | title=Mar 20, 1982, page 26 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/335632645 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203070627/https://www.newspapers.com/image/335632645 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref>
Famous guests included actor Steve McQueen, Peter Revson, Dan Gurney<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/340532654/|title=Mar 13, 1996, page 56 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Mario Andretti,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/325212821/|title=Mar 23, 1970, page 31 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Count Alfonso de Portago, Briggs Cunningham, Paul Newman, Jim Garner, Dick Smothers, and Bruce Jenner.<ref name="auto2"/> In 1984, Driver Hurley Haywood remarked "I love pink old Harder Hall. . .I still stay there. I love the quaintness of Sebring".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/336292474/|title=Mar 21, 1984, page 33 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com™|website=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In the 30s, Walter Hagen faced off against Joe Kirkwood in an exhibition match at the resort, with Rube Walberg and novelist Rex Beach pairing off for their own round.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Mar 08, 1931, page 76 - The Philadelphia Inquirer at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/173155384 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203070704/https://www.newspapers.com/image/173155384 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-03}}</ref> In the 1960s, golf stars Cary Middlecoff and Jim Ferree faced off in a televised "World Championship Golf" match.<ref>{{Cite web | title=May 22, 1960, page 29 - The Times Recorder at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/293002810/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505024357/https://www.newspapers.com/image/293002810/ | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2025-05-05}}</ref>
From 1960-1964 the resort played host to the annual Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome,<ref>{{Cite web | title=Dec 09, 1964, page 13 - The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com - Newspapers.com | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/329718753 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204065917/https://www.newspapers.com/image/329718753 | access-date=2026-01-25 | archive-date=2024-12-04}}</ref> which eventually became known as the JCPenney Classic. In 2000 the tournament was replaced by the Valspar Championship, now held annually at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.
In October 1986, the LPGA Futures Tour established its home base at the resort, with the hotel serving as host to a number of LPGA tournaments over the years including the long-running Harder Hall Women's Invitational<ref>{{cite web | url=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2021/07/29/amateur-golf-harder-hall-womens-invitational-new-name-course-rotation/ | title=The long-running Harder Hall Women's Invitational is getting a new name and course rotation | date=30 July 2021 }}</ref>
The resort also featured 12 tennis courts and a tennis clubhouse and pro shop. In the 1970s, Dennis Van der Meer held a “tennis university” at the property.<ref name="auto1"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Florida}}
Category:Buildings and structures in Sebring, Florida Category:National Register of Historic Places in Highlands County, Florida Category:Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Florida Category:Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Category:Defunct hotels in Florida Category:Hotels in Florida Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1927