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.

One of my coworkers, whom I occasional refer to as the SuperRepublican, has some very dramatic viewpoints. And while I only rarely agree with his sometimes radical political exaggerations, he is a pretty hilarious guy and I consider him a close friend.

Knowing that he would most certainly scoff at our recent Earth Day, I asked the SuperRepublican how he celebrated the holiday.

His response: “I threw some dead batteries into the regular trash.”

As celebration for the conclusion of my Ohio duties, Jen and I headed to Newport, RI this week for tours through some of the Newport Mansions. We bought passes for five of the mansions and visited them over the course of three days.

I’ll post a few pictures of the exteriors – unfortunately inside pictures are not allowed.

We started with the Chateau sur Mer, which was the largest of the mansions in the early history of Newport. As time went on, the owners of Chateau sur Mer sold property to persons who would ultimately build the mega-glorious mansions of Newport.

After visiting the other mansions, Jen and I jokingly referred to this one Chateau sur Meh. Not nearly as large or impressive. But this one did come with a personal tour which was a bit more interactive than the audio tours of the other mansions.

To anyone visiting the mansions for the first time, I would strongly recommend seeing this one first.

Current status: partially cloudy
Current Aurora status: This is stupid. I’m going to bed.

Current CT status: Partially Cloudy
Current Aurora status: ACTIVE IN CANADA! ACTIVE IN CANADA!*

quiet in Connecticut.

*also active in Northern Russia.

Current status: Clear
Current Aurora Status: Still Quiet

Current status: Cloudy
Current Aurora Status: Quiet