Lostersplus1: The Newport Mansions

We have really been wanting to go see the Mansions in Newport and with our time drawing near to the end here we decided it was now or never. We decided to do the Premium Tour, on this tour you get to see The Breakers, The Elms, and Marble House. Along with the Mansions you go on a behind the scenes and Roof Top Tour of the Elms, where you get to see how the servants lived.

We only have pictures of the outside of the Mansions as we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside.

The first Mansion we decided to tour was the Elms, and Roof Top Tour. It was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Julius Berwind and was used a a Summer House. The Berwinds made their fortune in Coal. When Mrs. Berwind Died, Mr Berwind asked his sister Julia to become the Lady of the house, she resided in the Elms until her death in 1961. She left the Mansion and all of its contents to a Nephew who then auctioned them off. In 1962 the Preservation Society stepped in just in time and bought the Elms and most of the contents back! and in 1996 the Elms was designated a National Landmark.

The Front.

A side view.

The back.

The view from the Roof Top of the Elms.

The servant quarters were on the top floor. It was pretty interesting to see how the servants lived. Their living conditions seemed to be pretty good, seriously better than my college apartment and probably even better than our last apartment. As we were touring the Kitchen at the Elms as well as the Kitchens in the other Mansions I couldn't help but to think, how is it that a 100 plus year old Kitchen is better than mine!?

The grounds at the Elms.

The second Mansion we visited was the Marble House which was built between 1888 and 1892 as a Summer House, by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt. This was Mrs. Vanderbilt's 39th birthday present. Mr. Vanderbilt was the Grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who established his families fortune in Steamships and the New York Central Railroad.

The Front.

The Back.

Grounds of the back of the Marble House.

The last Mansion was the Breakers. Which was owned by William's Brother Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife. The Breakers is the Grandest of the Newports Summer Homes, and a symbol of the Vanderbilt's social and preeminence in the turn of the Century America, as said before Cornelius Vanderbilt (the elder) established his fortune with steamships and later the New York Central Railroad. Which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the Nation during the late 19th Century. The Commodores Grandson Cornelius Vanderbilt II bought a wooden house called the Breakers in 1885. In 1893 he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a Villa to replace the earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed in a fire the previous year. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. The Vanderbilt's had seven children the youngest was a daughter named Gladys, who inherited the House after her mothers death in 1934. As a very big supporter of the Preservation Society, she opened the Breakers to raise funds for the Society in 1948, in 1972 the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs and it stands today as a National Historic Landmark.

As we were touring this Mansion I had the impression that it was indeed a palace of its time. It had a Grand staircase in this very large Ball-like room, and I could see grand parties being held there. Like the ones you see on movies where guests come down a grand staircase and are announced. With as grand as this house was it sounded like the children still had fun! The boys would slide down this grand staircase on their food trays.