Newport
Mansions
Immerse yourself in a world of wealth and
power as it existed at the dawn of the 20th
century. Discover the Gilded Age Experience in
the grand villas of the powerful men and
influential women who made Newport America's
leading resort and a center of the arts and
architecture. Tour the great Vanderbilt houses,
along with the breathtaking French chateau of a
leading industrialist, the party pavilion built
by a Wild West silver heiress, and the imposing
stone mansion erected for a China Trade merchant,
and feel how life was lived on the grand stage of
high society.
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Start your experience by
exploring the Victorian villa of China
Trade merchant William Wetmore, Chateau-sur-Mer,
the first of Newport's palatial summer
mansions, where the Gilded Age began. |
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| Enjoy the new audio tour
at Marble
House where you'll learn about
the dynamic Alva Vanderbilt-society
hostess, dedicated suffragist, and patron
of the arts-who was given the house by
her husband as a 39th birthday present
and who married off her daughter to
English nobility in it. |
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Don't miss The
Breakers, the grand 70 room
Italian Renaissance-style villa built by
Cornelius Vanderbilt II, President and
Chairman of the New York Central
Railroad, after his first house burned
down. |
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| Join us at The
Elms where you'll hear intriguing
details about coal millionaire Edward
Berwind and life in his French-style
chateau, a house that represented the
height of gracious living and
entertaining at the dawn of the American
century. |
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Wind up your Gilded Age
Experience at Rosecliff,
and imagine yourself at one of the
fabulous parties hosted by silver heiress
Tessie Oelrichs in its magnificent
ballroom, the largest in Newport. |
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| The Connoisseur's Newport includes an
eclectic collection of houses spanning more than
100 years of American history from the mid-18th
century to the height of Victorian elegance. Each
epitomizes the unique style of its period,
including Georgian, Victorian, Gothic Revival and
Shingle-Style. Together, they form a complete
essay of over a century of American architectural
development. Their owners helped make Newport
America's First Resort, and set the stage for the
grand Gilded Age palaces that would follow later. |
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| Admire the craftsmanship
in the renowned collection of furniture
made by the celebrated Townsend-Goddard
craftsmen of 18th century Newport at
Hunter
House, look out over Newport's
modern day waterfront and imagine the
hustle and bustle of the Colonial
seaport. |
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Visit Chepstow,
a classic Victorian summer cottage with
its wrap-around veranda and a collection
of important American paintings. |
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| Stroll among dozens of
fanciful animals and shapes sculpted from
living plants at Green
Animals Topiary Garden, an
historic country estate on the shores of
Narragansett Bay. |
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See first-hand the
ongoing restoration of a National
Historic Landmark at Isaac
Bell House, home of a wealthy
cotton broker and a classic example of
uniquely American shingle-style
architecture. |
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| Delight in the charm of
one of Newport's first summer cottages at
Gothic Revival Kingscote,
built for a Georgia plantation owner
escaping from the Southern heat. |
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