Category: Weekend Update!

Jen and my last stop on our Newport mansion tour was the Breakers. This was the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt and is the quintessential gilded age mansion. The house is INSANE. Pretty much every surface is gold, silver, or platinum.

One thing Jen and I enjoyed about all the houses were their kitchens. The breakers was designed to be fire proof since the first version of the home burned down. The kitchen is testimony to that with its cooktop that has no exposed fire. The parties were so huge at these places that the broth pots couldn’t be moved once they were filled – they were far too heavy. So instead they had spigots on the bottom of the pot. Awesome!

It helped that all the pots and pans were beautiful copper. Although I’d hate to have to be the staff person to have to polish those up every night.

Overall, I strongly recommend you go check out the mansions of Newport. Of those that we saw, the only one I think I’d pass on next time around was the Chateau sur Meh. The other four are must-sees.

Also, all this talk of mansions has me thinking of new house names. I know that my final house shall be called “The Keep”. But if I end up owning an intermediate home – it’ll need a name. Any recommendations?

The Elms, the next stop on our mansion tour, includes a conservatory. Soo cool. Ever since my trip to Baltimore I have wanted a palm house or a conservatory. I was extremely stoked to find that The Elms had one. It was decorated with classic white tile and ornamented with superfluous fountains and cherubs (aside: cherubs are a lot weirder if you refer to them as stone babies). Ferns and Palms cascade out of elaborate stone flower pots. The room looks like it would be the perfect escape from New England winters.

The Elms also had a drawing room. And I learned that the name Drawing room actually comes from the word ‘Withdrawing’ – like relaxing. Stupid me always thought that people liked making sketches in drawing rooms.

The more you know!

Rosecliff was the third mansion on our list, and the only of the bunch that can still be used for functions.

This one features a massive ballroom and is far less of a house as much as a support structure for that single ballroom. In fact that main attraction has been featured in a number of movies for its abundant grandeur.

The coolest part of the building in my eyes was the painting of the coffered ballroom ceiling. It was painted to imitate a Roman or Grecian courtyard. The center painting panel was a blue sky, and all around the edges of the room smaller paintings showed flower filled sconces at a perspective that would hint at them decorating the pillars of an ancient Athenian courtyard. It was a cool effect.

Unfortunately, outside of a staircase that would make a king feel at home, the rest of the home was pretty blah. Think Motel 6, except from the gilded age.

The second mansion that Jen and I visited on our recent trip to Newport was the Marble House. I think this one might have been my favorite.

The House was owned by Alva Vanderbilt, who sounds like she was a fiery feminist with an aggressive willingness to upturn the table of tradition. The house was amazing. The highlights included an extremely cozy ‘small’ library, his and her sitting rooms, an imposing dining room complete with 75lb chairs, and a bedroom covered in purple marble that looked like a truck filled with precious metals had crashed into a cotton candy factory.

Again, no pictures allowed inside – but if you’re going to Newport make sure to keep Marble House on your list.