A Scholarly Skater
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The Isaac Bell House (My Newport Adventures)
The Isaac Bell House is very different from anything else I saw in Newport. While the Vanderbilts, Berwinds, and other prominent Newport families looked to the past to imitate Renaissance, Gothic, and Baroque architecture, Isaac Bell looked forward instead. Thanks to his architect Stanford White, his house (completed in 1883) began a new style that’s now called Shingle Style.…
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Kingscote (My Newport Adventures)
Kingscote was owned by George Nobel Jones, and then several generations of the King family (who obviously gave it the name). The home was built in 1841 but substantially enlarged in the 1880s for the Kings. The original house was designed by Richard Upjohn, and the addition was by McKim, Mead, and White. Kingscote is large and impressive,…
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The Breakers (My Newport Adventures)
The Breakers is the crown jewel of Newport, and it’s totally crazy to experience. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, who owned the house with his wife Alice, clearly saw himself as a grand Renaissance prince. The Breakers was designed to look like an Italian Renaissance palace by Richard Morris Hunt and completed in 1895.
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Chateau-sur-Mer (My Newport Adventures)
Chateau-sur-Mer is probably the most Victorian of all houses in Newport. It was owned by William Shepard Wetmore, who made his fortune trading with then-exotic China. When it was built in 1852 – long before the big four – it was one of the most famous houses in Newport. William’s son, George Peabody Wetmore, inherited it in 1862, and he had…
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Rosecliff (My Newport Adventures)
Of all the mansions I saw in Newport, Rosecliff was my favorite. It was owned by Hermann and Tessie Oelrichs and designed by Stanford White, completed in 1902. Tessie Oelrichs liked to host parties, and Rosecliff was definitely designed to be her perfect venue. She hosted her first of many, highly-theatrical galas before Rosecliff had…
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Marble House (My Newport Adventures)
The Marble House (completed in 1892) was designed by Alva Vanderbilt, who was then the wife of William K. Vanderbilt. The house was designed by Richard Morris Hunt with decoration by Jules Allard and Sons. The Marble House is definitely over the top, yet it feels strangely accessible because none of the rooms are particularly…
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The Elms (My Newport Adventures)
The Elms was the first mansion I saw on my first day in Newport, and it was the perfect way to start my trip. The home was built in 1901 for Edward and Herminie Berwind, who made their fortune in the coal industry. It was later occupied by Edward’s sister Julia. The house was designed…
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An Introduction to Newport, Rhode Island
An introduction to Newport, Rhode Island and all the spectacular Gilded Age mansions within. Newport was once a summer destination for American elites.
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Ask the Scholarly Skater
Cover image: Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1308-1311. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (CC0) I recently polled my Facebook friends about their burning art-related questions. I got four great questions, for which I hope I gave four good answers. Do you have an art question you want answered?…
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My visit to Lyndhurst, an American castle
Lyndhurst is an huge house in Tarrytown, New York. It was home to politician William Paulding, businessman George Merritt, and finally Gilded Age industrialist Jay Gould and his family. Lyndhurst has incredible Gothic Revival architecture, stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and John LaFarge, and great furniture.
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How to Have a Great Historic Site Visit
Planning to visit a historic place? Learn what to expect and how to plan for the best visit ever.
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Think gargoyle-ly, act locally
I spent my Saturday morning gargoyle hunting, and I found these charming little grotesques on a small house on the grounds of a church I sometimes attend. (To be more accurate, I already knew of their existence. I didn’t find them as much as I sought them out to take their picture.) Interestingly, I didn’t spot a single gargoyle…
