The “Cottages” of Newport Rhode Island

While in Newport I also took the opportunity to check out some “cottages”. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Newport was one of the largest summer resort cities in the US. Anyone who was anyone owned property in this area. It was the summer playground for the rich and spoiled many of whom spent the rest of the year in places like New York City but escaped to Rhode Island in the summer where the heat and humidity are not quite as bad. Of course the term cottage is a relative term because really these places are mansions but since most of them were used only 8 to 12 weeks out of the year they technically were only summer cottages. Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures inside but here are a few pictures from the outside of the homes. Many of these places contain a lot of the original art work and furniture and even wall paper (well actually wall fabric). In other cases things have or are being restored. Although these houses are now museums most days, many of them are used for weddings, parties and even movies.

The first place I visited was Rosecliff. As this was the first mansion I visited, I found myself saying "WOW" as I walked up the lawn. The gardens and the grounds are spectacular and of course the house is beautiful. The house was modeled after the Grand Trianon at Versailles. It was the summer home of Theresa Fair Oelrichs. Originally a small wooden cottage stood here but Mrs Oelrichs quickly found that it did not have enough space for her to host her parties so she had Rosecliff built as you see here. Although some of Newport's most glamourous parties were staged here, one of the grandest was the White Party (and I am not talking about P. Diddy's famous white party although I am pretty sure this is where the idea came from). All guests had to dress in white, all the flowers were white, all the other decorations were white. You knew you were in the "it" crowd if you got an invite to this party.

For one of her parties, Mrs Oelrichs wanted her guests to be able to see a fleet of ships sitting out in "her" harbour. Boats do not normally tie up off this side of Newport as it is not protected and the water can be very rough. When the Navy turned down her request to move their fleet, she simply had a fleet built for the party. I am sure all her guests were very impressed.

The next place I visited was The Breakers. It was named for the waves that break off the rocks just off the property. This is the largest and grandest of the Newport Mansions. It was the 70 room summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. If the name Vanderbilt sounds familiar it should as they were one of the most premier (and I mean rich) families in the US. They made their fortune in steamships and the New York Central Railroad. Cornelius' younger brother also had a cottage in Newport (Marble House), however I did not visit it so have no pictures to show you. I did drive by it though and trust me, it would have been very nice as well.

Although this looks like it could be the front of the house it is not, it is the side. The bottom window led to the music room. The window above it led to the "Oval Office". This was Mrs. Vanderbilt's room. Every aspect the house and the social scene inside the house would have been run and planned out of this room.

This is the view of the back of the house from the huge lawn. You can see the tent as the property was being used over the weekend for the Tall Ships Ball. You can just make out the very small windows at the very top of the house. These would have been the staff quarters.

Guest house? Could be but no this is actually the Vanderbilt childrens' playhouse. Very cute little place with all the comforts of the big house.

My next was at Chateau-Sur Mer. This was the Wetmore residence and unlike some of their neighbors the Wetmores actually lived here all year around. Before the Vanderbilts' arrival this was the site of many grand parties and picnics. The tower would have been staff quarters (kind of like Cinderella).

I have to say that this was one of my favourite mansions. Mr Wetmore made his fortune as a China merchant and spent alot of time traveling the world. Because of that this house had a lot of clutter. The family collected a lot of little things along the way and a lot of them are on display. It made the house seem much more like an acutal home and not just a museum.

Well on Canada Day I visited 2 more mansions. The first was the Elms. This place was modeled after the french Chateau d'Asnieres, which I have never seen but I assure you this was a perfect french chateau in the middle of Rhode Island. The house, the gardens and everything were just amazing. Not one detail was overlooked including the covered service entrance. Mr and Mrs Berwind (who used the mansion in the summer to host lavish garden parties) had the service entrance covered with trees and bushes so that their guests would not see anything being delivered to the house.Now this has to be a guest house right? Nope. This is the Carriage House. Not even the carriages could be parked in anything but the best.Here is me hanging out at one of the many fountains in the gardens at The Elms. This would be a very nice place to hang-out on a warm afternoon.

My final stop was at Kingscote. This was my favourite mansion to visit. This was one of Newport's first summer homes although in later years it did become a year-round residence (although they did have a different bedroom for the summer and the winter). Pretty much everything in this house is original as the final decendent of the original owners (the King Family) left the house and all its contents to the Newport Preservation Society when she died. Some of the furniture and artwork actually date back to 1841 when the house was originally built although a few expansions were made throughout the years so that they could do a little more entertaining. While wandering through this house it seemed like the most liveable of all the mansions. It had the least museum feel about it. If I had to choose one to live in, it would be this one....although I would hope that at least one of my friends was living at the Elms.

Julie

Rhode Island and a few Tall Ships

The Bluenose II

Well Canada Day weekend saw me head to Newport Rhode Island for a little sun. It is just a quick 1.5 hour drive up the coast from Hamden so not difficult to make the trip. The weather was absolutely perfect to hang out by the water and check out a few things. The beach would have been awesome but I did not even lay eyes on it until I was leaving the city. I was originally drawn to Newport on this particular weekend because I knew that the Bluenose II was in port.

The Bluenose II heading under the Newport Bridge during the Tall Ship parade

Of course all my Canadian friends and family will know about the Bluenose but for my American friends who might not know the original Bluenose (launched in1921) was a fishing schooner that also happened to be undefeated under Captain Angus J. Lunenburg in the International Fishermen’s Trophy series, which were races between Canada and the US. Now you can most often see her on the Canadian dime.

Her home port is in Lunenburg Nova Scotia but of course I had to go to Rhode Island to see her. The Bluenose II was built from the same plans, at the same yard and by some of the same men as the original. This newer version of course has modern navigation and communication instruments as well as modern accomodations for the crew. The Bluenose II has a crew of 18 men and women all from Canada (one of requirements to be eligible to work on the ship).

Me at the helm of the Bluenose II

Me at the stern of the Bluenose II

To my pleasant surprise I realized that not only was the Bluenose II in Newport, but 18 other tall ships were in port as well. I was very fortunate to catch the final 2 days of Tall Ships Rhode Island 2007. On saturday the ships were tied up at various docks. Most of them we were able to board however I actually only climed aboard the Bluenose II. On sunday however I got to see the Tall Ships Parade of Sail before they headed out to sea.

The Cisne Branco (White Swan). She flys under the Brazillian flag with her home port in Rio de Janeiro, however she spends most of the year sailing in internation waters.

This is the Gloria. She sails under the Columbian flag. She acts as a sail training ship for the Columbian Navy. Students in their final academic semester train on the ship while bringing a message of friendship and good will to all the nations she visits.

Now for anyone who has not seen the tall ships they really are neat to see. They come in all sizes from some smaller ships like the Bluenose II and some larger ones like the Cinse Branco. The bigger ships are so neat to see when they are in full sails because they look just like the big pirate ships from the movies. Some of the ships even fly pirate flags and during the final parade of ships many were firing their cannons.

Many of the tall ships waiting in line for the Tall Ships Parade of Sail. Quite a contrast to all the yachts and pleasure crafts in the foreground.

There was not a lot of wind during the parade so it was a very slow parade but here are some pictures. I watched to parade from Goat Island but I was quite disappointed that there are no actual goats on the island (unlike Kangaroo Island eh Vanessa).

The Gorch Fock II from Germany.

The Gorch Fock II behind Rose Island in Narragansett Bay

The Tarangini from India. Those are not birds on the mast, they are actually members of the crew. They are just relaxing while the ship motored up the bay however a little bit farther along they had to go to work as they made the turn around Gould Island and then sailed back down the bay and out to sea.

Another shot of Tarangini

The Bluenose II heading out to sea and back home to Nova Scotia

Julie