Newport Trip: Day 3

This was the day we were planning to go to Boston, but having to make up a day and weighing the drive and trying to fit a bunch of stuff into one day there made our decision easy to spread out what we wanted to do in Newport.  That way, we didn't have to rush through things and we could just enjoy this beautiful state and city.  We will go to Boston another time!

One of the things that Scott was told to do by "his sources" was to go to Allie's Donuts in North Kingstown, RI.  So, we woke up Saturday morning and drove 20 min back over the toll bridge for some donuts.  I know, I was just as skeptical as you are.  When we found it, it looked like something straight from a very tiny town in Nebraska.  It was a small, humble little place that looked a bit worn down.  But, the difference was that it had a line almost going out the door.  People were shouting their orders to the young ladies behind the counter and it was chaos.  Scott got two cinnamon roll donut things and I got two double chocolate donuts.  We figured we could eat the second ones the next morning for breakfast.  After we woke up from our blackout of chaos, we got to the car and realized the donuts that Scott got were bigger than his face and not something he could eat on the go.  Really wish we would have gotten a picture of those.  So, we went back to Katie's to eat them and then it was time for MANSION TOURS!!!

The mansion tours was the first thing on my list of things I wanted to do in Newport.  I hated that we had to wait til day three to see them, but I am so glad we reserved a full day for them.  It was only $7 more to see five mansions than it was to get the two-mansion package, so we justified getting the five mansion package cause if we went to three of them, we would still come out ahead.  We were able to get to four of them before we thought we were going to collapse and we were very satisfied with that.  The order in which we went to see the mansions were The Breakers, Marble House, Rosecliff, and The Elms.  Just typing the names of these makes me want to fly back out there.  I don't know what it is about the history of the people who lived in these enormous, beautiful homes or learning about what their lives were like back then that fascinates me so, but it really really does.  It was a good thing we started with the biggest and went down to the smallest cause our bodies were hurting by the end of it.

Our first stop was The Breakers.  

Front of The Breakers

The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century.   Source
Click here and here to find out even more about this mansion.

Side view of The Breakers

 And yes, you saw correctly- it was considered to be the Vanderbilt's summer cottage.  In fact, all of these mansions were considered summer cottages.  This 70-room, 130,000 sq. ft. mansion was their little get-away during the summers.  To put this into perspective, their dining room had more square feet in it than the first and second floors of our house combined.  It was just absolutely fabulous.  They have a beautiful grand staircase that goes into the center of the home where the children used to take baking pans and slide down them.  President Kennedy dined in this same area of the home.  During our audio tour, we learned of all of the guests that were there and you could just take your mind to that time period and see all of the people gathering together.  Some of the most famous people of their time were in that house.  They were one of the few homes that had plumbing and electricity in those days and those who lived there took several baths a day and would change their clothes up to 7 times a day. They had maids and butlers at their beck and call with just the push of a button.  That would be the life.  They talked about how the maids and butlers absolutely loved their jobs because they got to be a part of all of this.  The maids would do laundry all day long, changing sheets and towels after just one use and they were able to put their clothes and other laundry away without having to disrupt the Vanderbilt's as they had secret ways of stocking their closets so they didn't get in their way. 

Back of The Breakers

 If I could have taken pictures of the inside of it, I probably would have broken my camera.  But since we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, I was just able to take it all in and enjoy every minute.  This mansion took the longest since it was the biggest of them all.  Once we had gone through the whole house- the living spaces, the dining areas, the bedrooms, the fabulous library, the fantastic kitchen and butler's pantry, we walked along the grounds and got to see the amazing views of the ocean.  Just unbelievable.   The fact that anyone got to or gets to live like this is just unfathomable to me.   During this tour, I asked Scott if we could get a new house like this one.  He said he would think about it.  Fingers crossed!  I've already started planning the first ball we are going to have, so....

Their view from their back lawn to the Atlantic Ocean

The next house we went to was Marble House.
Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt. (Grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt) It was a summer house, or "cottage", as Newporters called them in remembrance of the modest houses of the early 19th century. But Marble House was much more; it was a social and architectural landmark that set the pace for Newport's subsequent transformation from a quiet summer colony of wooden houses to the legendary resort of opulent stone palaces. Source

Marble House

As one would assume, the entire house is made of marble from the floors to the walls.  This house was quite interesting because Mrs. Vanderbilt divorced her husband which was very rare to do back in those days, especially to someone of his status.  She ended up remarrying and living basically across the street at Belcourt Castle (which is famously haunted) and she used Marble House as a large closet for herself as Mr. Vanderbilt no longer lived there.

Backside of Marble House

We had lunch at the Chinese Tea House and it was really neat to be in there and have a quick little lunch by the ocean.  Perfect spot for our crazy day!  In 1912, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont commissioned the construction of a Chinese Tea House at the foot of the Marble House lawn. She celebrated its opening on July 25, 1914 with a lavish Chinese costume ball at Marble House. It also provided a backdrop for political rallies and teas to raise funds for the "Votes for Women" campaign.  Source

She was a major part for this campaign and actually had dishes made that said "Votes For Women" in her home. And they were for sale in the gift shop ;).

Chinese Tea House

Their view of the ocean

The next house we went and visited was Rosecliff.  
Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini. Source

Rosecliff

Some movies that have been filmed at Rosecliff have been The Great Gatsby, True Lies, Amistad, and most recently 27 Dresses.  They said that women will favor this house over men and I would certainly say that it is true.  It is absolutely beautiful inside with florals, rose colored rooms, several dresses of the time, and a grand hall.  You could just picture the balls with fabulous gowns of the time.

Front right garden-like walk through

Backside of Rosecliff

Rosecliff's view of the ocean.  One of my favorites with the beautiful concrete fence line.

And finally, we visited The Elms.  This one is said to be favored by the men which I can totally see.  There is quite the manly decor full of rich dark woods.  
The Elms was the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Julius Berwind of Philadelphia and New York. Mr. Berwind made his fortune in the Pennsylvania coal industry. In 1898, the Berwinds engaged Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer to design a house modeled after the mid-18th century French chateau d'Asnieres (c.1750) outside Paris. Source

My favorite part of this house was the conservatory.  I have heard of these on the boardgame Clue, but have never actually seen one.  It was very neat and what one might compare a large sun room with a lot of plants to be nowadays.  Quite understated, but you get the gist. They also had a hidden drive thru area where the workers would come to drop off whatever the house needed at the time such as ice or supplies so no one could see them.  They also said that every day there would be fresh cookies and milk for the children.  I think I could get used to that.

The Elms

 

Drive-thru covered in trees so no one could see people coming and going

The Elms Carriage House  (See the orb?  Yeah, I have a few other pictures with this same orb in it, so I'm pretty sure we had a ghostly follower while walking the grounds.  Or a refection from the sun.  Either way...)

Backside of The Elms

Part of the grounds of the Elms

I have to say that although The Elms did not have an ocean view in their backyard, they have quite an impressive property and grounds that were so fun to walk through.  It seemed there was more and more to find the further you walked.  Absolutely beautiful.  The Elms was actually going to be torn down, but they were able to preserve it just in the nick of time- one week before a wrecking ball was going to go through it.  Those who had bought some of the furniture from the home when it was going to be sold, actually brought some of it back because they were so excited it was going to be saved.

One thing to note about these houses was that they were not all the original homes as most burnt down or they just wanted something bigger.  They were mostly the second homes that were built to resist any chance of fire.  I can't even begin to explain to you the details in each of these homes.  For example in The Breakers, above one of the doors there are cherubs and if you look closely, you can see a train behind them and one of the angels pulling a lever (He made his fortune in the railroad business).  Every single room was thought of considerably.  In one home, there is an enormous painting on the ceiling that appears to be backwards but they did that on purpose so that the lady of the house could see it the correct way when it reflected off of the mirror in a separate room.  Just so much detail.  Each painting, each column with carvings, everything down to the bathtubs, meant something to them and was completely thought about.  Just beautiful.  You could spend an entire week in one of these homes and continuously find something new.  Can you tell I completely enjoyed this day?  Below is a column in front of The Breakers that gives you an indication of what is in every inch of these houses regarding the details-

We went back to the condo and took a little break to just sit down with some Dunkin Donuts coffee (which we had twice while we were there).  What is it with donut places?  We then searched for the best place to get pizza in town and found Nikolas Pizza which was actually just a few places down from Sardella's.  It was quite yummy.

We finished out the night at Tickets Bar having a couple drinks with Megan and Tim as we weren't going to get to see her the rest of the trip.  Had a wonderful time visiting and watching the closing ceremonies of The Olympics!

Phew!  Did reading that exhaust you too?  Coming up- a very less involved Day 4!