Newport Mansions

By the turn of the 20th century, many of the nation's wealthiest families were summering in Newport, Rhode Island. They came for a brief social season (usually only eight weeks) to grand, gilded mansions with elaborate ballrooms. We were lucky enough to have time to tour some of these impressive homes and even though we couldn't take pictures inside, we made sure to document the excursion! We saw seven houses over the course of three days but here are my favorites:

The Elms was the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Julius Berwind of Philadelphia and New York who made their fortune in the Pennsylvania coal industry. The house was one of the first homes in America to be wired for electricity. It was also my favorite and I would have loved to bring Westin and Tessa to play in the back yard! The property was massive and had a gorgeous garden and carriage house at the back of the property.

Looking back towards the house from the gardens

Alex in front of one of the giant Beechwood trees

Sisters in the formal gardens!

Kris and Ryan touring outside

The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and was built by the Vanderbilt family. It was constructed between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of more than $7 million (approximately $150 million in today's dollars adjusted for inflation). The mansion has five stories and an impressive yard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Every room is decorated impressively from floor to ceiling with no detail left out!

Welcome to the Breakers!

If I had a million dollars.........

Even Baby C enjoyed the audio tour!

Alex touring around the beautiful gardens!

The whole family outside the massive entry gates!

Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt as a summer house, or cottage as they would have called it! It is now an historical landmark worth more than $260,000,000. It was constructed mostly of marble and also has a Chinese Tea House overlooking the seaside cliffs.

Welcome to Marble House

The gardens were so pretty!

Beautiful hydrangeas

Who needs a paci when the Bjorn is right there?

Ready to start our tour!

Baby C loves history...

The whole family enjoying the views!

View from Marble House lawn

Dad, Kris, Ryan, Kat, Mary, Uncle Lee,
us, Alex, Aunt Sue, and Greg

The Chinese Tea House

These tours are exhausting!

Rosecliff is another palatial house usually open for tours. While we were in Newport this house was hosting a flower show so we only got to tour the main floor. Outside vendors had set up displays of exotic flowers and the whole house was filled with blooms. Carter and I posed in front of a giraffe made entirely of mums!

Entrance to Rosecliff

The rose garden was right off the main entry

The theme of the flower show was African safari!

I think that's enough house tours for today!!