Belleair is a town of about 1.8 square miles of land in Pinellas County, on Clearwater Harbor between Clearwater and Largo and about 2 miles south of downtown Clearwater. It grew up around Henry B. Plant's Belleview Hotel, which opened in 1897, and was incorporated under its current name in 1925. It is known for the restored Belleview Inn, two private golf clubs and 19 town parks.
History and the Belleview Inn in Belleair
Plant, the railroad developer, built the Belleview Hotel as the center of a planned resort, and golf here dates to that same year, 1897. In 1919 the hotel passed to John McEntee Bowman's Biltmore company. In the 1920s the landscape architect John Nolen designed the Belleair Estates plan, and development continued until the Florida land boom ended in 1926. The hotel's legacy survives as the Belleview Inn, which preserves the original lobby and 35 guest rooms. It was moved to its current site in 2016, reopened in 2018, and still operates as a hotel. More than 30 properties are on the town's Historic Registry.
Golf, parks and the Pinellas Trail in Belleair
Belleair Country Club has two Donald Ross courses on the grounds where golf began in 1897. Pelican Golf Club has hosted an LPGA tournament. Both are private clubs. The town maintains 19 parks, all open to the public. The largest, Hallett Park, has 5.42 acres of old oaks and open lawn on Clearwater Harbor. There is a Pinellas Trail entrance at Wildwood Park, which connects Belleair by bike to downtown Clearwater to the north and Largo and beyond to the south.
Homes in Belleair
Homes range in age. Houses from the town's early resort era sit alongside a larger stock of newer homes: more than two-thirds of the town's residences were built after 1950. On the grounds of the former hotel, Belleview Place has condominiums and carriage homes. The town's western edge faces Clearwater Harbor, and about a third of Belleair's total area is water. Belleair shares ZIP code 33756 with Clearwater, so check that the mailing city on a listing says Belleair. This page includes only homes inside the town limits.
Getting around from Belleair
Downtown Clearwater and Coachman Park are about 2 miles north, and Clearwater Beach is about 5 miles away by road over the Memorial Causeway. The Belleair Causeway to Belleair Beach and the Gulf starts next door in Belleair Bluffs, off West Bay Drive.
