the gilded age | River's world…..

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

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

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

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

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

You tend to run out of adjectives and simply gawk.

Here’s the husband, doing just that.

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

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

The lady of the house’s boudoir.

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

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.

Her bedroom is ultra feminine and covered in silk.

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.

Newport, Rhode Island is famous for its Gilded Age “cottages”. These stately mansions line the waterfront on an avenue appropriately named Bellevue… ‘beautiful view’ in French.

And cruising down that graceful tree lined avenue is indeed a beautiful thing.

Ornate wrought iron gates guard impressive estates.

Some are owned by the Preservation Society and open to the public …

Some are still privately held.

Some look like the Addams family could live there, but trust me… they’re all spectacular.

It’s like stepping back in time.

Before all those pesky taxes, regulations and workers unions ate into the homeowner’s stash of cash.

We were told Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle) just bought two adjoining properties, tore one house down and is doing 150 million dollars worth of renovations to the other. In a city that worships its history, this is akin to wholesale slaughter.

Needless to say he will not be receiving a welcoming apple pie from his neighbors.

Continuing down Bellevue Ave, we took the scenic route on Ocean Drive.

Where large waterfront homes and properties rule the day.

Jay Leno has a big spread here.

And is said to drive his cars around town, popping into local restaurants and pubs quietly and politely.

This is a gorgeous area.

Scenically beautiful.

And if I had that kind of money?

I’d live here too.

Stone is a favored building material. And turrets are popular.

Because who doesn’t love a turret?

Continuing across the bridge, we headed for Jamestown.

First established in 1678 by the Massachusetts Bay Company on Conanicut Island, it’s the second largest island in Narragansett Bay.

And though it has impressive waterfront homes like Newport…

It’s a quieter, more laid back, rural town.

I’m not sure why you’d want a deck around your chimney, but these people did.

The coastline is very similar to ours in Maine.

And they do love their stone walls.

Crossing another bridge, we ended the day at a brewery in Middletown.

Where I had a blueberry beer with actual blueberries in the glass. Shame it didn’t taste anything like fruit.

An old photo on the wall paid tribute to the popular beers of days gone by. And though we were surrounded by Narragansett Bay on all sides, and Narragansett beer was on every tap in every restaurant…. the brewery itself is inland, in Providence and run by a New York company.

Boo to that.