25 Most Unbelievable NEWPORT MANSIONS

Newport. A place known as the sailing capital of the world, a destination for lavish iconic estates, and one that has always played host to some pretty big money. Welcome to Schmansee, the place where we talk all things rich, exclusive, and fancy Schmansee. Today, we are taking you to Newport, Rhode Island. A city which may well belong to the tiniest state in the country. But don't ever let that fool you. Located on the southern tip of Rhode Island's Aquidneck Island, this seaside escape played a major role in past ages as the place where American aristocracy would spend their summers. Recognized as America's first resort, it was a massive haven for all types of mansions and summer cottages, from the Victorian era to the Gilded Age, well into the Roaring Twenties. Today, you will find much of Newport's historic mansions still standing. And if you've got a few minutes to spare, you can come along with us on our tour of the most memorable, most outstanding mansions in this most opulent city. Our tour will take you down its iconic Cliff Walk, then up its posh Bellevue Avenue, and to a few random spots we bet you didn't even know about. So without further delay, here are the 25 most unbelievable Newport mansions. Number 1. Chepstow. Let's start with this smaller Italianate-style villa at the corner of Clay and Narragansett. Built in 1860 as the summer cottage for Edmund Schermerhorn, it houses a dynamic collection of art and furniture, among beautifully decorated period rooms. The estate sits on acres of lush, meticulously kept landscaping. Chepstow was a private lived-in estate until the year 1997, when it was gifted to the Preservation Society of Newport County as a museum. The home is currently closed to tourists. However, online tours and future openings are accessible via the Society's website. Number 2. Wakehurst. At the corner of Webster and Oaker Point Avenue is an enormous mansion modeled after the 16th-century English manor called Wakehurst Place in Sussex. It was completed in 1888 for James John Van Allen, a socialite, politician, and complete Anglophile married to Emily Astor. The home was a gift to him from his father after he became inconsolable from the death of Emily, who died during childbirth. After being passed down to several descendants of the Van Allen family, the home was sold to Salve Regina University for a mere $200,000 in 1972. Today, it serves as the student center and home to the University's Department of English Cultural and Historic Preservation. Number 3. Oaker Court. The first of the mansions directly on the cliff walk to make this list. Completed in 1892 for banker and real estate tycoon Obden Gowlett and his wife, it ranks as one of the most spectacular of the Newport mansions, as well as one of the largest homes in the United States. Modeled after William K. Vanderbilt's New York mansion, Petit Chateau, the 44,229-square-foot French Gothic chateau came with a total of 50 rooms, an extensive collection of antiques, architectural detailing imported from Europe, formal perennial gardens, and breathtaking ocean views. In 1947, after years of searching for a recipient, Mr. Gowlett's son gifted the Oaker Point property to Salve Regina University. Today, Oaker Court is the heart of the university, housing its administrative offices, and hosting concerts, lectures, and private events throughout the year. Visitors are welcome to tour the grounds, as well as the main floor during school hours. Number 4. Vinland. As you continue down the cliff walk, you'll come upon another colossal estate owned by Salve Regina University. The Richardsonian Romanesque-style mansion was completed in 1883 for Catherine Laurellard Wolfe, an heiress of Wolfe Hardware and Laurellard Tobacco, as well as a philanthropist uninterested in marriage. Other smaller buildings on the property include a gatehouse, a carriage house, a hennary, and a caretaker's cottage. The entire estate was donated to the university in 1955. Today, the massive red sandstone structure known as Macaulay Hall, as well as the other buildings, all house faculty offices, student meetings, and liberal arts classrooms. As the interiors have been renovated to accommodate the university, there's not much to see here, and the buildings are closed to tourists. Next up is Number 5. The Breakers. This Gilded Age showpiece is the largest of all the Newport mansions, boasting 48 bedrooms and 27 fireplaces, on a 13-acre property. Built between 1893 and 1895 by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, in the Italian Renaissance style, it has been the backdrop of multiple movies and television series, as well as hosted many famous dignitaries and guests over the years. Today the property is owned by the Newport Preservation Society, and with its original furnishings in well-preserved condition, it operates as a house museum. Commonly referred to as the flagship of the Newport mansions, it welcomes visitors from all over the world, to experience its way beyond decadent interiors, as well as breathtaking views of the ocean, all throughout the year. Number 6. Anglesea. Moving along the cliff walk, we have the gorgeous Gothic Revival Victorian that everyone views from the Breakers balconies, but don't quite know much about. Completed in 1880, for Walter H Lewis of Philadelphia, a dried goods merchant, it provided views of the sea from every angle. Hence the name. The home was expanded in 1896 by the Pearson family, its second owners, and again in 2003 by Carpianato Management, its current owners. The property today, is used for special events hosted by the New England developer and is closed to the public. Number 7. Seaview Terrace. At the corner of Ruggles and Wetmore, is the fifth largest estate in Newport who some say is haunted. What's interesting about this chateausque style mansion, is that it was originally constructed in Washington D.C. Yes, you heard right. Completed in 1907 for Edson Bradley and his family, the 43,772 square foot home took up half a city block on Dupont Circle. The whiskey baron loved it so much, that upon his move to Newport in 1923, he decided to take it all with him. The home was disassembled, and rooms that had been imported intact from France 20 years earlier, were moved again and reassembled in Newport. The 1885 Elizabethan Revival mansion that was already on the Newport site, was incorporated into the new chateau's design. The home boasting 29 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, and one half bath, was later purchased by Mr. and Mrs. George Waldo Emerson in the 50s, and used as a private boarding school until the early 70s. It was eventually purchased by Martin T. Carey of New York, and temporarily leased to Salve Regina University. Today, Seaview Terrace, now known as the Carey Mansion, is inhabited by one of the members of the Carey family. It is a private residence and not open for touring. Number 8. Fair Home. We're back on the cliff walk again, and we've arrived at this magnificent Tudor Revival that sits right next door to Anglesey. Known for hosting guests such as the Kennedys and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, this 15 room 14 bath summer cottage was built for Fairman Rogers. A wealthy arts patron and engineer in the year 1875. Situated on 4.3 acres with stunning ocean views, the home changed several hands over the last century, and is privately owned today by an undisclosed group under the name Fair Home LLP. It is currently a private residence and not open for touring. Next up is number 9. Rose Cliff. Completed in 1902 for silver heiress Teresa Fair Ulrichs, the French Baroque Revival mansion quickly became Newport's hot spot for lavish parties and fabulous formal events. The 30 room 29,000 square foot building is an imitation of the Grand and Petit Trianon at Versailles, and sits on six acres. By the mid-20th century, the original furnishings were sold off by the Ulrich's son, and the home was later purchased by Mr. and Mrs. J. Edgar Monroe of New Orleans, who also loved to entertain and held lavish parties as well. The couple would eventually gift the home to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1971. Later, it was featured in scenes of The Great Gatsby in 1973. Today, you can visit Rose Cliff to tour its interiors and grounds, or you can even rent the venue for your special event. Though sparsely decorated, it is still a must-see, and one of the stops you absolutely have to make while in Newport. Another beachfront property is number 10. Beachwood. Built in 1853 for clothing merchant Daniel Parrish from New York, this is the mansion that was later purchased and renovated by the Astors. Yes, New York's Mr. and Mrs. William Backhouse Astor, Jr. Since Mr. Astor never cared much for entertaining, it was left up to Mrs. Astor to spend over two million dollars renovating and making several additions to the cottage in order to accommodate her famous list of 400. In time, Beachwood became the summer focus for many of Mrs. Astor's lavish dinner parties. After changing several hands in ownership, the home was purchased by film graduate Paul M. Madden in 1981, who renovated again and turned it into a live museum featuring actors in period costumes conducting live theatrical tours for mansion visitors. In 2010, the mansion was purchased by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, and the theatrical tours came to a halt. Though the mansion has remained closed to the public since Mr. Ellison's purchase, it is rumored that he spent over 100 million dollars restoring it, and it will reopen as a After Beachwood, we have number 11. Marble House. Built by William K. Vanderbilt between 1888 and 1892 as a birthday gift to his wife, Alva, but also as a way to outshine Golatsoka Court, it is one of the earliest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the United States. This opulent summer cottage got its name due to 500 cubic feet of marble used in its design, with its exterior walls in white Westchester marble. Alva divorced William Vanderbilt only three years after the home's completion, and soon after remarried. Nevertheless, she held on to her 50-room mansion, and had a Chinese tea house built in the back of the property, where she hosted rallies for women's rights. Today, Marble House belongs to the Preservation Society of Newport County, and it is a National Historic Landmark that you can visit all throughout the year. Number 12. Bollior. Completed in 1859 for Federico Bereda, Peruvian minister to the United States at the time, the 34-room oceanfront villa was purchased two decades later by John Jacob Astor III, then later by Cornelius Vanderbilt III, amongst several other owners. 100 years from the time it was built, the estate sat in ruins during the 1950s. It wasn't restored to perfection until 1960, when it was purchased by Wiley T. Buchanan, President Eisenhower's chief of protocol, and his wife Ruth. The home was meticulously kept over the years, and remained a private residence occupied by Ruth Buchanan until her death in 2019. Today, it still remains a private residence in the hands of undisclosed new owners. Moving along down the cliff walk is Number 13. Clarendon Court. Completed in 1904, for Edward Collings Knight Jr., son of a wealthy Philadelphia businessman, the 20-room mansion was the interpretation of an 18th-century Scottish architect's drawings. The drawings most likely would never have fruition had it not been for the famed architect, Horace Trumbauer. It is therefore known as the only truly English house that just happens to be in the United States. Knight originally named the mansion Clarendon Court, after his wife Clara. It was later anglicized to Clarendon Court several owners down the line. After various owners, plus a sensational scandal involving Sonny Von Bulow and her suspicious husband in the 1980s, the mansion is owned today by Mark Walter, a financier hailing from New York, who purchased the estate for $30 million. This was the highest sale price for a private home ever, in the state of Rhode Island. Number 14. Miramar. Right next door to Clarendon Court is another stately mansion designed by the same architect, but this one all decked out in French neoclassicism. The home was completed in 1914, as a summer cottage for George Dunton Widener and his wife Eleanor, also residents of Pennsylvania's famed Linwood Hall. When George, her eldest son, and their valet, all perished on the Titanic in 1912, Eleanor decided to proceed with her husband's plans for the home regardless. She later remarried, and the 31,000 square foot summer chateau, became known as a place for lavish parties and annual balls during tennis week. Eleanor's children would eventually sell the estate in 1956, and over the years, it went through several owners. In 2021, the fully restored seaside property was sold to investment banker Stephen Schwarzman for $27 million, making Miramar the second highest sale price in the state, after Clarendon Court. Number 15. Rough Point. This oceanfront English manor home was originally built for Frederick William Vanderbilt in 1892. However, it is better known for its final owner and inhabitant, Doris Duke. The home was actually purchased and expanded by her father, tobacco and electric power magnate, James Buchanan Duke, in 1922. When he died in 1925, he left the majority of his fortune, including several residences, to his then 12-year-old daughter, Doris Duke. Rough Point became one of her most favorite residences. It is also where she is suspected of killing her interior designer Eddie Tirella by dragging him with her car. Prior to her death in 1993, she endowed the home to the Newport Restoration Foundation, an organization she founded to preserve a multitude of colonial homes in the Northeast. Today, Rough Point is a beautifully kept mansion that you can tour inside and out, and experience it exactly as it was, during the days of Doris Duke. Number 16. Land's End. On the southeastern point of Aquidneck Island, is a more modest mansion built in 1864, for Boston banker Samuel G. Ward. However, it is best known as Edith Wharton's summer cottage in the years between 1893 and 1902. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author, could never quite stomach Newport High Society, nor its gilded opulence. And so after restoring and redecorating the home to an even more understated style, she sold it to move into her grander, less ostentatious mansion in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The 23-room home changed several hands over the last century, and sold once again in 2019 for $8.6 million to undisclosed buyers. Today, it is still a private residence, and closed to the public. Number 17. The Waves. At the southernmost tip of the Cliff Walk, on Ledge Road, is a massive Tudor revival mansion, designed by the same architect responsible for the Jefferson Memorial and other major buildings in Washington D.C. Completed in 1927, by architect John Russell Pope, for himself, its materials and design is intended to blend in with its surrounding rocky landscape. After Pope's death, and a couple of owners, the Waves became the first mansion in Newport to be converted into condos. Today, residents of the 12-unit complex get to live in a colossal mansion, have access to beautifully manicured gardens, and panoramic views of the ocean, all for the fraction of the cost of an entire mansion. Number 18. Belcourt Castle. We are now on Bellevue Avenue, and the mansions on the left side of the street are obviously not oceanfront property. Nevertheless, they're still quite spectacular. Our first stop, is the chateausque style mansion, located on Lakeview Avenue between Bellevue and Ledge, called Belcourt. Built in 1894, for Oliver Belmont, of equestrian fame, the eclectic 60-room mansion was the only one to have extensive stables and carriage areas incorporated into the main structure, as well as the first to have a standing shower. When he married his newly divorced neighbor, Alva Vanderbilt, she moved out of Marble House, and into Belcourt Castle, and renovated the home to add her own touch, making it even more eccentric. Subsequent owners in the 20th century, also added art deco elements to the scene. Today, the home is a museum owned by Carolyn Raphaelian. You can visit to tour its library, chapel, its collection of furnishings and artifacts from Europe and Asia, and other Newport mansions, as well as host your own special event. Number 19. Champs Elysees. On Bellevue Avenue, across the street from Marble House, is a 17th-century-style French chateau, on 5.5 acres. Built in 1929, for Lucie Drexel Dahlgren, an heiress of Philadelphia's Drexel banking family, it was designed to resemble the exclusive hunting lodge at Versailles. The main house has a total of 11 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms within 13,428 square feet, and has in the past hosted the America's Cup dinners. The home is currently owned by Joshua McKinney Zarely, and his husband, real estate developer Kenneth Zarely, and is closed to the public, unless you'd like to rent it for the summer, and have $125,000 to fork over every month. Number 20. Vernon Court. Our next stop on Bellevue Avenue, is another French chateau a little further up the road. This one is based on the 18th-century Chateau d'Awe in France. Constructed in 1900, for Anna Van Nest Gambrel, a widow who inherited a large sum from her father, a railroad baron, the property remained in the family until 1956, when it was auctioned off. For a time, it served as the administration building for an all-girls junior college, and then passed through several different owners. In 1998, the home was acquired by Lawrence and Judy Cutler, founders of the National Museum of American Illustration. Today, Vernon Court is a museum housing impressive works from hundreds of American illustrators, that we highly recommend you not miss if you are in town. Vernon Court is currently under renovation as of late 2022. So we encourage you check their website to see opening hours, and upcoming exhibitions. Number 21. Chateau Sur Mer. This Grand Bellevue Avenue Victorian predates the Gilded Age of Newport, as it was the most palatial residence in Newport, until the Vanderbilts arrived with their flashy and decadent homes in the 1890s. The Italianate villa was completed in 1852, as an all-year-round home for China merchant, William Shepard Wetmore. His son George Peabody Wetmore, who later inherited the home, was a former governor of Rhode Island, as well as a U.S. Senator. During the 1870s, he had the home remodeled and redecorated into the Second Empire French style that you see today. The name Chateau Sur Mer means, Castle by the Sea, in French. Though it is not currently oceanfront property, there was a time when the Wetmores owned most of the land to the ocean, and during the years prior to the Gilded Age, the mansion truly was oceanfront property. Owned today by the Preservation Society of Newport County, it is open for touring from spring through fall, with virtual tours also available on their website. Number 22. The Elms. Completed in 1901, the Elms was the summer residence of coal baron Edward J. Bowen and his wife, who hailed from Philadelphia and New York. Fashioned after the 18th century Chateau Darniers in France, this 48-room mansion which required the help of 40 servants, boasted an exquisite collection of Renaissance ceramics, 18th century European paintings, and oriental jades. In addition, there are elaborate classical revival gardens on the grounds. Mr. Burwine's sister Julia inherited the home after his passing in 1936. After Julia's death in 1961, her surviving relatives auctioned off the home's contents and sold the mansion to developers. In 1962, after narrowly escaping the wrecking ball, the Preservation Society of Newport County purchased the Elms. And today, you can browse tastefully decorated rooms and stroll through its magnificent gardens all throughout the year. Number 23. King's Coat. This gothic revival wooden mansion at Bowery and Bellevue was built in 1839 for southern planter and slave owner, George Noble Jones. It was one of the first summer cottages constructed in Newport and is now known as one of the oldest. In 1864, at the height of the Civil War, the Jones family left permanently for the south and sold the home to China trade merchant William Henry King. The King family and their descendants remodeled and extended the mansion several times until the last descendant left it to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1972. Today, you can visit King's Coat to experience a rare example of gothic revival architecture and view its period rooms intact with its original family furnishings and one-of-a-kind Tiffany glass bricks. Number 24. Seafair. Away from all the tourist attractions on a small peninsula is a curvaceous private castle owned by none other than Jay Leno and his wife Mavis. Built in 1936 for Verna Z. Reid Jr., a banker and heir to a mining fortune, the home comes with 12 bedrooms, 13.5 baths, a carriage house, tennis courts, a swimming pool, stunning oceanfront views, sprawling lawns, and more. The comedian purchased the nine-acre property in 2017 fully restored and fully furnished to Louis XIV perfection at the bargain price of $13.5 million, a fraction of the cost of what he would have paid for such an estate in California. Of course, as you would know, the home is a private residence and not open to the public. And last, we're gonna head north to Fort Adams Park for number 25. The Eisenhower House. Built in 1873 as a commandant's residence, this historic home was once the summer White House of President Dwight D. Eisenhower during his administration. He basically ran the country from this home. In the 1800s, Fort Adams was an important citadel that was built to protect the bay and Newport Harbor from naval invasion. General Henry Jackson Hunt was the first in a long line of military officers to live here. Acquired by the state of Rhode Island in the 1960s, the Victorian mansion commands hilltop views of Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay. Today, the property serves as a beautiful space that you can rent for weddings or corporate events. And that's it for the top 25 most unbelievable Newport mansions. So which of these did you like the most? Which ones are you adding to your Newport bucket list? Anyway, if there's anything else you would like to mention about this topic, feel free to share it with us in the comments below. Furthermore, if you've got any value out of this video, be sure to like, subscribe, and click on the bell icon so you never miss out on another video. With that said, we'd like to thank you for watching. And we'll see each other next time.