Tag Archives: Newport cottages

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Upstairs Mer.

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Continuing up to the second floor of Chateau Sur Mer in Newport ….

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We had to stop and gawk on the way.

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Fabulous woodwork aside, the hand painted crawling vines, lattice and greenery were quite something.

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No one is allowed on the third or fourth floors…

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But there’s plenty to see on the second.

This is the Butternut bedroom, so named for the light walnut bed and furniture.

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As always, the ceiling was so much more than white.

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Various bedroom and private sitting rooms for the family.

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You realize when you tour these mansions, the first floor is for impressing guests…

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The second is for day to day living.

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This mahogany and white tile bathroom is exactly as it was back in the day.

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With hot and cold running water it was pretty high tech.

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Except for the throne, which looks more like an indoor outhouse.

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Here’s the staircase to the third floor which we couldn’t access, though my husband did try.

😉

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Newport – Day 5… the Elms’ (not quite a kitchen) kitchen, a wicker toilet and the table that weighs a literal ton.

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Continuing our tour of the Elms, we learned some interesting history of the home before entering the breakfast room.

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When the sister of the original owner passed in 1961, she left the estate to her nephew. Not having the money for its upkeep… he auctioned off all the furniture and sold the property to a developer. Three days before the entire house was due to be demolished, the Preservation Society stepped in, raised funds for purchase and opened it to the public in 1962. Over the decades the Society has bought back a lot of the original furnishings you see here.

But back to the breakfast room. It’s walls are 18th century K’ang Hsi lacquer.

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Superb examples of the art form, this is one of only a few surviving lacquer rooms in the world.

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Next door is the butler’s pantry… where food would be plated before serving.

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The electric dumb waiter connects to the kitchen below and to the upper level of the pantry where the china was stored.

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The silver safe.

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View of the dining room from the pantry.

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Heading up the stairs to the second floor.

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In the center hall sits a large and extreme heavy ( two and a half tons! ) marble table.

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It was sold at the auction of furniture in ‘61… but proved too massive to move and was set to be demolished along with the house.

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The family’s private rooms are on this floor.

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Bedrooms.

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And baths.

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Please note the wicker “throne” in the masters bath below.

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Fit for a king of industry?

The sink is white onyx..

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So, perhaps.

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🤣

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These light fixtures made me smile.

Not sure why.

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Along with the bedrooms, we found the family’s personal sitting room.

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Downstairs was for guests.

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This was a private space, and filled with donated family photos.

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Newport – Day 3….. Marble House finale, The Black Pearl and I’d rent that boat.

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Finished with our internal tour, we walked back outside to the rear of the property.

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The mansion was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt and was patterned after a small palace within the grounds of Versailles in France. 

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The mansion is U-shaped, and though it appears to be two stories, is actually four levels. Clad in white Westchester marble from which it gets its name.

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The view is pretty sweet.

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As is the tea house I spoke about earlier.

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Sadly it was locked up tight and we couldn’t explore inside.

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But as far as backyard buildings go, it beats our shed hands down.

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To the left you can see some other large waterfront homes.

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And don’t you just hate it when the neighbors build one larger than yours?

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All in all, Marble House is quite something.

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The side facing Bellevue Avenue has a Corinthian portico, a curved marble carriage ramp, and a semi-circular fountain. 

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And as with everything else, is quite ornate.

Done with our Gilded Age cottage tours for the day, we made a pit stop back at the resort to refresh and change then headed down to the waterfront for dinner.

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On the recommendation of some locals the husband met for breakfast ( did I mention he found a cafe across the street from our resort and became a week long regular eating there every morning? The man has to talk! ) we tried The Black Pearl.

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And when they say black?

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Everything was black.

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My pomegranate margarita and wild mushroom roasted chicken were wonderful but the husband was unimpressed by the menu and protested by just having chowder.

Whatever.

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An evening stroll along the marina was required as we had to park what felt like a mile away…

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But the scenery wasn’t half bad.

This boat was available for charter and I instantly imagined a fabulous pirate cocktail party.

Aaargh!

😊

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Newport – Day 3… Marble House, upstairs downstairs.

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Moving on upstairs and around the balcony..

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We find a portrait of the master of the house,

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William K. Vanderbilt.

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And a memorial room to his youngest child and avid yachtsman, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt. Harold successfully defended the America’s Cup three times and is known for inventing the rules of contract bridge. When a subsequent owner of Marble House put it up for sale in 1963, it was Harold who stepped in and donated the money to the Preservation Society for its purchase.

Thank you Harold.

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Down an impressive mahogany paneled hallway…

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My bad knee ached at the thought of the servant’s stairs, but down we went.

And how do you know they’re the servant’s stairs?

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Because there are locked bars at the base to keep the riff raff delivery people from mixing with the family.

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I’m not sure why the butler’s office has a parrot, but there he is.

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My husband got a huge kick out of this water heater and its primitive but effective level indicator.

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The kitchen.

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I can’t imagine how stifling and busy this space must have been for the 6-8 weeks of summer residence.

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Husband loved the old coffee grinder.

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Someone still polishes those copper pots today.

No thank you!

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A French chef and 6 assistants prepared the meals.

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On the 15 foot coal fired stove.

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Alva, at a costume party.

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The annual auto parade, where cars were covered in flowers and driven on parade.

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Then? $382,500.

Today?

$380 million.

😳

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Newport – Day 3…. The Gilded Age was real, not just an HBO series.

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The Grand Salon of the Marble House was very much that.

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Also known as the Gold Room for obvious reasons, the walls are covered in 22 karat leaf.

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Move the furniture and it serves as a ballroom as well.

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The decorative elements are borrowed from Versailles, that other simple cottage across the pond.

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Heading up the marble front stairs is an experience in itself.

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You tend to run out of adjectives and simply gawk.

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Here’s the husband, doing just that.

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It really isn’t hard to imagine giant skirted ladies, dripping jewels, floating down the stairs on the arm of someone fabulous here .

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Consuelo Vanderbilt’s bedroom. Eldest child, she married Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough.. and clearly loved the color red.

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The lady of the house’s boudoir.

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Alva married well and took New York and Newport society by storm, elevating the Vanderbilt name to the highest rung on the social ladder.

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Oddly enough she was a feminist and became heavily involved in the women’s suffrage movement, building a tea house on the property to hold rallies in support of women winning the right to vote.

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Her bedroom is ultra feminine and covered in silk.

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The HBO series The Gilded Age filmed in quite a few of the Newport cottages and used many of the rooms in Marble House as set decoration inspiration.

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Newport – Day 3…. Marble and dragons and gold. Oh my.

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When we visited the Breakers on our third morning in Newport and bought our tickets for entry, we purchased the multi pack which allowed us to tour three of the Preservation Society’s properties.

So that afternoon we parked off Bellevue Avenue and walked to number two.

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Past ornate wrought iron gates….

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Past houses with extra large lawn ornaments….

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Along giant slabs of slate sidewalks…

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To our destination.

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Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 as a 39th birthday present for Alva Vanderbilt from her husband, William. At a total cost of $11 million, ($384 million today) it consists of 500,000 cubic ft. of marble that cost $7 million alone. Considered the most lavish house in America, this 50-room summer residence was still called a “cottage” in the Newport tradition.

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And yes, there was a whole lotta marble.

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On the floor, the walls and the ceiling.

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Gold?

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The dining room has that in spades. Even the chairs are covered in it.

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The library/morning room.

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Alva loved France, French art and French architecture.

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And because she acquired a collection of Medieval and Renaissance art she had a gothic room built to display them.

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As one does.

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It’s a charming little space.

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Understated and plain.

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Not!

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Heck, it even has a dragon.

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🐉 😊🐉

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