SEBRING, Fla. — When you climb the wide steps to the front door, you can almost hear the Great Commoner regaling those gathered in rocking chairs with a fiery speech about the evils of drink, or how evolutionary hypotheses were just professors' fancy words for "guessing."

The man many dubbed the nation's greatest orator, William Jennings Bryan, the three-time presidential loser and Scopes Monkey Trial attorney, was just one of the famous to visit the Kenilworth Lodge in its heyday.

Taylor Jones/Palm Beach Post (ENLARGE)
The Kenilworth Lodge has retained much of its early-20th century charm. Built by George Sebring in 1916, the lodge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
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IF YOU GO Getting there • Driving: Sebring is about 500 miles from Atlanta. Take I-75 South to Florida's Turnpike South toward Orlando, then merge onto U.S. 27 South and follow it to Sebring. • Flying: Orlando about 90 miles away and Tampa about 95 miles away. Expect to pay about $200 roundtrip to Orlando or Tampa. About the lodge • Kenilworth Lodge: 836 Lakeview Drive, Sebring (just off U.S. 27). Rates: $59.99-$85.99 in main lodge; $67.99-$95.99 for cottages and efficiencies; $99.99-$135.99 for penthouse suite; special events: holiday packages, summer golf packages, Christian mystery dinner theater, Caladium Festival packages. 1-800-423-5939 or 863-385-0111, www.kenilworthlodge.com

There was C.W. Nash and wife, president of the Nash Motor Car Co., 1925 national golf champion Cyril Walker, Salvation Army chief Evangeline Booth and New York Times owner and publisher Adolf Ochs. The 1924 Governor's Conference was held here, with governors from the then 42 states attending.

From the outside, the Kenilworth appears much as it did when George Sebring, the founder of this little south-central Florida town, opened his grand lodge in 1916.

Being a good friend of the president of the Seaboard Atlantic Railway didn't hurt George Sebring, his new town in the middle of nowhere, or the Kenilworth Lodge. With every train stopping in Sebring, the town was bound to grow. By 1919, the lodge had added two wings to the main building, which still exist today, to accommodate all the northerners who came to visit.

There's a serpentine swimming pool that's been added, and rooms now have air conditioning, satellite television and refrigerators. But much of Kenilworth's early 20th-century charm still exists.

Visitors still sit in rocking chairs on the front porch, just as they did in the '20s and '30s in the old photos displayed in the lobby. The rooms still have deep porcelain tubs and large sliding windows to let in Florida breezes.

There's a charm in the lobby that speaks of earlier days. A 1950s-era TV sits in one corner of the 4,000-square-foot room, just across from the grand staircase. Bookcases filled with novels and nonfiction fill another corner. The sign tells visitors to take any book they want home with them, but just send two back when they get there.

Next to the lobby fireplace sits a pingpong table where guests can borrow paddles and play until the wee hours.

On one Saturday night, a square dance group romped in the ballroom while a church youth group played Christian rock 'n' roll in a nearby meeting room. Outside, workers prepared the porch for the Marine Corps Band, which was to play a concert there Sunday afternoon. Women with parasols wouldn't have seemed out of place.

Mark and Madge Stewart first worked as managers at the hotel in 1985 for two years, then leased it from the owners until they bought it in 1995.

"From what I have read," Madge Stewart said, "the Kenilworth Lodge has only had about five owners during its lifetime. It also has operated every year with the exception of one."

The Stewarts met and married while working at a historic hotel owned by her mother. When her mother took a year off, the Stewarts ran that inn.

"By then, I guess we had the bug for historic hotels," Stewart said. "I have always been a history buff, so it was a natural progression [to buy the Kenilworth]."

One of their proudest accomplishments came just four years ago.

"The Kenilworth Lodge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2000, after approximately three years of paperwork and research process," Madge Stewart said. "Notably, the state preservation bureau was very pleased that the Kenilworth was still operated as a hotel for vacationing travelers, much as the founder had envisioned in 1916."

Operating a hotel that's pushing 90 years old comes with its share of problems. Shortly before the Stewarts bought the hotel, the previous owners replastered all 117 rooms in the main lodge, put in the hotel's first air-conditioning system and installed new carpet throughout.

Those renovations continue, mostly in the summers. Right now, a new elevator is being installed, and the hotel's public areas are getting new carpet. They plan renovations so they don't need bank loans, which was a big help when business slowed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I say the building is like a bridge: When we finish with painting and carpeting, it is time to start over again," she said.

What's their priority? Returning things to the way they were.

"Mark sits on the local historic preservation board," Madge Stewart said. "Preservation is one of our top priorities in any renovation that we do. We are always looking at what it was and in some cases — suspended ceilings in some of the rooms, etcetera — how we can get it back to the original."

They appear to be succeeding.

If it wasn't for the wireless Internet connection and six satellite TV sports channels, you might think you could still hear the Great Commoner mesmerizing the crowds gathering in the lobby.

The Stewarts wouldn't have it any other way.