Thursday, June 5, 2014

SUMMER COTTAGE ANYONE?

Opulence is a word easily applied to the grandest of Newport Rhode Island’s summer “cottages". Yes I said cottages, as that's what they are referred to in Newport,  and back in the Gilded Age. It was nice to see all of the mansions of Newport. The luxury, the opulence, the wealth, was very, very impressive. I would love to see the year round house!!!!! I would highly recommend this trip if your a lover of homes and interior design. The tour we took was only 39.95 to tour 5 mansions and the Breakers was separate. Between the house tours and Cliff Walk I got plenty of walking in!!!! In this post I'll share the first two of my jaw dropping favorites.



Probably the most famous, and my favorite of the houses on the  Newport mansion tour is the Breakers.
 
 
I literately felt about two inches tall next to these gates!!!!

 The grandest of Newport cottages, the home was constructed between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of more than $7 million. The Breakers was built as the Newport summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II.  The five-story 70-room mansion boasts approximately 65,000 sq ft. of living space. The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by sculpted iron gates and 30-foot high walkway gates are part of a 12-foot-high limestone and iron fence that borders the property on all but the Atlantic Ocean side. In 1948 Countess Gladys Széchenyi  (the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II), sold the high-maintenance Breakers to the non-profit Preservation Society of Newport County in 1972 for $365,000. I was interested to learn that, the family  continues to live on the third floor, which is not open to the public. They summer there to this day, hidden from the hundreds of thousands of tourists who explore below. Hot damn, there is hope yet I'll end up with Anderson!!!!!! Some of my favorite rooms.....

 
Morning tea anyone????
The second house we went to see the second day was the Marble House. It may look smaller in these pictures, but I assure you when standing in front of it, it was indeed huge!!!! The front pillars were like the great giant titans in Greek mythology. The Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for William Kissam Vanderbilt, grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. 


 It was reported to cost $11 million ($260,000,000 in today’s dollars) of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife Alva Erskine Smith as her 39th birthday present. William’s older brother Cornelius Vanderbilt II subsequently built the grandest of Newport cottages, The Breakers, between 1893 and 1895.The Vanderbilts divorced in 1895 and Alva married Oliver H.P. Belmont, moving down the street to Belcourt. After his death, she reopened Marble House, and had a Chinese Tea House built on the seaside cliffs, where she hosted rallies for women's right to vote. She sold the house to Frederick H. Prince in 1932. The Preservation Society acquired the house in 1963 from the Prince estate.  In 2006, Marble House was designated a National Historic Landmark
 
 
So aren't they just cute little ole summer cottages? It would take my houseboys and then some to run these year round!! But I could live with that!!

24 comments:



  1. Mega millions lottery was a couple months ago. 340 million was the jackport. I played, I lost. Two other people won and split it. If I was the only one who won, I would buy one of these mansions and still have 80 million left over. Screw the taxes. I sure hope you aren't expecting these accommodations when you come to P-Town dear.

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  2. And as I said before, the professor really showed you a good time. so marry him Mum the minute he asks you!!!!

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  3. This is the most beautiful place to vacation. The mansions are unreal!! Thanks for sharing your experience. This is the closest I will probably ever get to Newport without driving, as I am terrified to fly I LOVE the Gilded Age. Too bad income tax had to come & ruin EVERYONE'S fun.

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  4. Absolutely beautiful creations! I have seen the biltmore and these monuments are in good company

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  5. It just makes me giggle that the owners used to call these mansions "cottages"!

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    1. And they probably called the Duisenberg the little buggies.

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  6. William and I went to Newport several years back, and the Breakers and Elms were our favorite. It is amazing how the rich lived then, and the amount of craftsmenship that went into these homes.....just amazing.

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  7. I would definetly want to live in the breakers, it's very European looking compared to what and how they build now. Amazing trip!

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  8. Remarkable! The Marble House is very opulent indeed. Can the rich even afford to run a house like this these days. Can't imagine what it would even cost yearly to run a residence like this? WOW!

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  9. Every time I went to Newport it was like Im in heaven. I wish I could have live in The Gilded Age!

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  10. And to think, had you seen Anderson Cooper, you would have cornered him into a bedroom and that would be all she wrote! It's interesting to think he is connected to all this.

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  11. Your right about one thing, the scale. It's interesting to see in some of the pictures the scale is just amazing. This trip looks so interesting and glam!!! Enjoying these posts.

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    1. The scale was very impressive to see, but then its hard to shock a size queen.

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  12. O...M...B! I think I have the vapors! where are the smelling salts?????

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  13. I have been several times to Newport and did the tour and studied the Breakers in depth for class years back . Love the breakers & marble house. Got to see the golden room, in Marble, that just always stuns me.

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  14. I'm totally devouring the pics from your trip... LOVES IT!!!

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  15. What a simply beautiful post. I also like the Hamptons, but Newport makes it look like poverty level.

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  16. Wow, beautiful! I have been to many many parts of this great country, but hard pressed to find the beauty of the Northeast. So many different settings and all amaze me. I really should move their with some many great cities and things to do.

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  17. Cottages? I can only imagine what they would call today's homes.

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  18. The gates remind me of those of the Casa holding in the boys.

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  19. Very stunning post! Both these homes are quite the opulent homes. The Breakers is just plain breathtaking. I couldn't even imagine living in a home that regal.

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  20. My my, it's like watching Downton Abbey!!!! I too have been to the Hamptons, and this doesn't come anywhere near Newport homes. So glad you had the opportunity to see these gems.

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  21. Truly amazing to see I bet. Just stunning homes.Glad you enjoyed your trip!

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!