If you're planning on vacationing in or near Newport, Rhode Island, there are plenty of activities to keep you busy. One of the favorite attractions is the Newport mansions. Newport was the summer vacation spot during America’s Gilded Age. Many rich families of the time built huge and ostentatious “summer cottages” to represent their status and wealth. Today, these mansions are owned and operated by The Preservation Society of Newport County. They offer a multi-mansion ticket to obtain admission to several of the most famous houses. We purchased the Newport Mansions Experience package which allowed us to visit any 5 mansions. Most of the mansions, with the exception of one offered self guided audio tours. See which ones we visited below.
What is the Gilded Age?
The Gilded Age was a period of rapid economic growth in the United States during the last half of the 19th century. This was partially to do with the industrial revolution, as railroads, mining and factories become big business. The small group of families who owned these businesses become incredibly wealthy and became the first multi-millionaires of America. Mark Twain coined the phrase The Gilded Age.
Chateau-sur-Mer
Chateau-sur-Mer, French for castle on the sea, is one of the earliest palatial mansions in Newport. Unlike other mansions in the area, this house was used as a year round residence, not as just a summer vacation home. Seth C. Bradford designed and built the Italianate villa styled house. It was finished in 1852. The owner was William Shepard Wetmore, a merchant who traded in China. Upon his death, his son George inherited the mansion. George hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to redesign and redecorate the mansion in the French Second Empire style. Hunt enlarged the building by adding a three-story wing and a four-story tower. Later in life, George Wetmore was elected for two terms as the Governor of Rhode Island.
Marble House
Marble House was built for William and Alva Vanderbilt between 1888 and 1892. The architect, Richard Morris Hunt, designed the house in the Beaux-Arts style. The mansion has 50 rooms. About 500,000 cubic feet of marble was used for the construction. The cost to build was $11 million dollars or $260 million dollars at 2009 prices. There is also a Chinese Tea House built on the seaside cliffs, where Alva hosted rallies for women's right to vote. Although the house looks as though it has just two levels, it really has four. There is a basement level and a hidden upper level used as the servants’ quarters. This was my favorite house. I loved the use of marble and gold in some of the rooms.
The Breakers
A few years after Marble House was built, William's older brother, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, built The Breakers, an even larger and more opulent house. The Breakers was built between 1893 and 1895 on 13 acres of land. The mansion has 70 rooms on five floors and over 62,000 square feet of living space. The architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the house in the Italian Renaissance style. When Vanderbilt purchased the land in 1885, the original house on the grounds burned down. Vanderbilt decided to construct a new house, but insisted it had to be fireproof. For that reason, no wood was used in the construction. The landscaped gardens are also impressive. There is a wide variety of rare and unusual trees planted.
The Elms
The Elms, designed by architect Horace Trumbauer, was completed in 1901. The mansion was built for Edward Julius Berwind, a coal baron. The design is a copy of the Château d'Asnières in France. The gardens surrounding the mansion are in the eighteenth century French style. The mansion has three levels. The first floor was for entertaining, the second floor had bedrooms, and the third floor had the servants' quarters. When automobiles became popular, the carriage house and stables were converted into a garage. By 1910, this structure expanded to became the largest private garage in the US.
Green Animals Topiary Garden
The Green Animals Topiary Garden is a seven-acre estate in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Thomas E. Brayton purchased the estate in 1872 and used the Victorian house on the property as a summer home. However, the gardener Joseph Carreiro was responsible for overseeing the creation of the tree sculptures. There are trees in the form of animals such as an elephant, giraffe, bears, ostrich and camel. The Green Animals Topiary Garden is the oldest topiary garden in America.
America’s Gilded Age was a time of prosperity for many enterprising men. These newly rich families insisted on displaying their wealth with the design of summer homes in Newport, Rhode Island. By touring the Newport mansions, you get a glimpse into how the richest people of the Gilded Age lived.
A few things to note before you visit:
- Tickets are available for purchase at all of the mansions.
- All 5 of the mansions we visited offered free parking.
- Stollers are not allowed inside any of the mansions
- Photography is not allowed inside the mansions, hence the reason why I haven’t posted any. You are allowed to take photos of the exterior though.
- It took us about an hour to complete the tours at each mansion.