70 Room Summer Cottages On The Cliff: The Gilded Age On Display In New Port Rhode Island
Rhode Island is home to some astonishing summer cottages. RI property management can no longer manage many of these as they have become museums. During the passage of time property management RI has collected a million tales to tell. Over a hundred years ago during the end of the last century, robber barons dominated industry and the accumulation of wealth was often vaunted. During this time many people demonstrated their wealth by purchasing a summer home in New Port Rhode Island. These summer homes where enormous mansions that stated loud and clear that they were party of the well moneyed class. Some of these mansions has become part of the national imagination as they have been used in numerous films. While the Great Gatsby was set on Long Island, the 1974 film was filmed partially in New Port. A few of these mansions have interesting stories.
The Breakers is a so called cottage that the Vanderbilt’s built. The Vanderbilt family built their fortune in Steamships and Railroads. After the former house was destroyed by fire in 1892 Cornelius Vanderbilt commissioned a new home with 70 rooms. It has nearly 65,000 square feet of floor plan. Calling the building a cottage is a bit like calling the Amazon River a wash, or referring to Everest as a mound. The Breakers was designed by one of the most esteemed architects of the time; Richard Morris Hunt. On entering the Great Hall, Hunt’s figure can be seen above one of the six doors leading off the Great Hall. He is in good company as the other doors have above them Dante, Apollo, Galileo, and the artist that created the statues, Karl Bitter. The Mansion is filled with luxurious furniture, art and fixtures. The Breakers represents the quintessential example of the Gilded Age lifestyle of the rich. New Port was the center of the affluent social class during the summer, and the Breakers was at the heart of it all. The mansion is now owned by the Preservation Society.
The Kingscote Mansion was one of the first so called summer cottages built. The style is Gothic Revival and Kingscote Mansion helped revive the revival. The mansion has arches, towers, and ornate trim. It was perhaps one of the first houses to encourage the gathering of the wealthy. The mansion is now a museum.
Chateau-Sur-Mer is another mansion in the New Port Style, large and ornate. It was perhaps the first Mansion to truly usher in the gilded age. It was built in 1851 and renovated by Richard Morris Hunt. Great events were thrown during the summer with guests numbering in the thousands. The building was the largest until the Vanderbilt’s constructed their cottages. Chateau-sur-Mer is a classic Victorian style mansion complete with furniture, wall paper, stenciling and ceramics. The house belongs to the Preservation Society.
Theresa Fair Oelrich’s mansion, Rosecliff, was renowned for some of the very elaborate and lavish parties that she would host. Theresa loved Rosecliff to host magical dinners with entertainment. The mansion is recognizable as it has been the set such films as the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby, True Lies, The Betsey, and Amistad. All these mansions are now part of the Preservation Society and capture a specific time and place in American History.
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