Today we drove to Newport and walked around the downtown waterfront area. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful area, with lots of boats in the harbor. After spending several hours walking and window shopping we drove out to see some of the local mansions. The mansion area has many lovely Victorian homes,as well as some major mansions. We toured 2: Breakers and the Marble House.
Breakers was the summer “cottage” for the Cornelius Vanderbilt II family. It is a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. They do not allow photographs in the interior, but they do allow exterior shots. I photographed the front, the side, the rear, and the view from the upper porch. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.
Marble House was the summer house of Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt (Cornelius’ younger brother). Alva Vanderbilt envisioned Marble House as her "temple to the arts" in America. It was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported to be $11 million. (As we were walking into the mansion a women wondered what it would cost in present dollars. Both Rich and I wondered why someone would want to.) When Marble House was completed Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a birthday present. It was beautiful, and it was ugly. It did not look comfortable, it was hard to imagine anyone living there. There was one room completely done with gold leaf. There was a recording of the words of the daughter speaking about her room. She did not like it. There was also a section of her speaking about how uncomfortable the living room was. Alva later divorced her husband. After Alva remarried, she moved down the street and used Marble House for storage and for the laundry.
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