Harder Hall - Sebring, FL

Harder Hall - present day 2013
 

Went home to Sebring recently to see the family and drove by Harder Hall on the way to my sister's house. If you're driving along Hwy 27 around Lake Jackson you can't miss it. Big and PINK! It was built in 1927 and added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Having sat vacant for years behind a chain linked fence, anxious to find some determined developer to restore her to her former glory, it kind of depressed me. It was once a "fancy" resort where families frolicked in the sunshine along Lake Jackson, played tennis, golfed... it sounds like a wonderful time enjoyed by those coming south in the winter to soak in the sun.

According to the Wikipedia article I found (and I remember this vaguely in the local paper), the last attempt at restoration failed in 2006 after the developer ran out of funds, and then it was purchased by the city of Sebring in 2007. My secret wish is to get inside some day and roam the halls, fantasize about what it looked like back in the best of years. Can't imagine I'll ever get that opportunity (legally), but I do wish it well and hope that I will see it revived during my lifetime.

A post card depicting Harder Hall in better times...



State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/161103