July 30, 2010

The Gilded Age in Newport

By Patricia and Robert Foulke

As Newport replaced wooden summer cottages with elaborate stone mansions in the last two decades of the 19th century and became the prime social center of the East, it fostered an unlikely combination of public decorum, ostentation, and artistic taste. The owners and architects turned to Europe for models and avidly collected its painting and sculpture to decorate their grand houses. Under the guidance of The Preservation Society of Newport County the buildings change little, but opportunities for visitors to imaginatively participate in the life of the era grow.


This year you can see a rare medieval and Renaissance collection in its original setting in Marble House and have lunch or high tea in its Chinese Tea House where Alva Vanderbilt promoted women's right to vote. At The Elms you can take a "behind-the-scenes" tour to see how the staff lived and worked, and eat lunch at its Carriage House Cafe. Last year The Breakers introduced a new audio tour that lets you listen to reminiscences of life in the house, and this year a new family tour extends that method aimed at children.

↓ Continued from front page of Where To GO Next!

Marble House

The Annunciation; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Christ Arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (left), The Adoration of the Magi (center), Christ Carrying the Cross (right); John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Reliquary Bust in the Form of a Young Woman; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

One of the jewels of Newport is the stunning white Marble House set on a cliff overlooking the sea. Designed for William K. Vanderbilt by Richard Morris Hunt in 1888, it opened four years later. Walk up the drive slowly to take in 500,000 cubic feet of marble with four Corinthian columns for emphasis. The mansion was modeled after the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Inside, ornate gold decoration on walls and ceiling make the ballroom glow with opulence. Italian yellow Siena marble covers the floor and walls in the entrance hall, and pink Numidian marble softens the bronze ornamentation of the dining room.

This year the house contains "Gothic Art in the Gilded Age: Medieval and Renaissance Treasures in the Gavet-Vanderbilt-Ringling Collection." Through the cooperation of Preservation Society of Newport County and the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, this remarkable collection has returned to its original setting. It will remain in place until October 31.

The Gothic Room was specially built for this collection of more than 300 paintings, sculptures and works of decorative art. Alva Vanderbilt purchased the collection from Emile Gavet in 1890 in Paris. When she closed Marble House in 1925 and moved to France the collection was sold. Much of it was bought by John Ringling for his Sarasota, Florida house and museum. Although he decorated his house with some of the art and placed other pieces in the museum, part of the collection remained in storage.

Now each piece hangs or stands where it was in 1892. Old photographs guided the curators as they reassembled the exhibition in Marble House. You will see sculpture placed just above the wainscoting with small paintings above. Ceramics reside on wall brackets with large paintings in between them. Display cases hold small collections, including exquisite wax medallions.

The Elms
You approach the mansion through green lawns and towering trees. Although the original elms have disappeared, 40 species of trees and shrubs replace them. Formal sunken gardens offer begonias and English boxwood with statues and fountains for interest. Enter the house and enjoy the grand staircase of white marble. Bronze railings cap elaborate wrought iron decoration and marble pillars with an irregular mottled pattern frame the landings.

The Chinese Breakfast Room has Kang His lacquered panels and the dining room features two large murals. The Louis XV style ballroom was used for entertaining during the summer season. French pieces decorate the drawing room.

Apart from all of the opulence in each room, you can also visit where the servants lived and worked. A "behind-the-scenes" tour takes you from the rooftop to the cellar. Downstairs you will see the kitchens with gleaming copper pots, boiler room, coal cellar, laundry rooms displaying old fashioned irons that were heated on the stove, and a wine cellar complete with dusty old bottles.

Hike up to the third floor to see where the staff slept. They also had a balcony hidden from the ground by a wall. But over the wall they could stand to peer out upon the magnificent grounds and beyond into Newport harbor.

Lunching
From now to October 11, visitors can enjoy lunch at the Chinese Tea House at Marble House from 11 AM to 5PM and the Elms Carriage House Cafe from 11 AM to 4 PM. Access is offered to Newport Mansions ticket holders and members.

For information on events such as the September Wine & Food Festival and Christmas at the Newport Mansions, visit www.NewportMansions.org.