A Life of Grandeur…

In celebration of Patrick’s Birthday, we headed for little family getaway to Rhode Island.

This being our second trip to Newport, it is fast becoming a favorite weekend vacation spot of ours. Wanting to visit a few of the “Mansions” of Bellevue Avenue, past residences of various members of the Vanderbilt Family, I was again left awestruck..just as I was the first time I was there.

These summer ‘cottages’ of the Gilded Age are overelaborate and ostentatious, yet grand and spectacular to behold…remaining beautiful and unique unto themselves throughout each passing decade.

My favorite ‘cottages’, as they are termed because they were built as summer homes to be used for a mere unbelievable six to eight weeks out of the year, are ‘Marble House’ and the ‘Breakers’, the residences of William K. Vanderbilt and Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The ‘Breakers’, measuring 250 feet by 150 feet and containing 70 rooms, was a ’summer home’ to Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cornelius, who began work as a bank clerk earning $50 a month and living on his salary, soon grew his worth as chairman to the family’s railroad empire to 70 million.

The Breakers took two years to complete construction, a commendable feat considering that workman did not have the benefit of modern tools and machinery. This grand cottage held its much anticipated ‘opening’ for 300 guests, as all were escorted by footman clad in the distinctive maroon livery, into the Great Hall, whose ceilings rose to a height of nearly fifty feet. In its reality, The Breakers was breathtaking, outshining the many rumors of its contained tons of art and treasures.

‘Marble House’, the most striking of the cottages of Newport, was built of 500,000 cubic of feet marble. Commissioned to Richard Morris Hunt by William K. Vanderbilt for his wife, Alva, Marble House took nearly four years to complete and cost $11,000,000 to build.

Mr. Vanderbilt, who turned ownership of the house over to his wife after completion, spent only two summers there. In March of 1895, Alva became the first woman in her ’set’ to divorce a Vanderbilt. Although he begged her not to, she did it anyway. Led by a desire to be a ‘pioneer’ in the fight for woman’s rights, Alva was determined to do what she deemed appropriate for her …and her daughter, Consuelo.

Determined to solidify her social position, five months after her divorce Alva held a great ball to introduce the suitor of her daughter, the ninth Duke of Marlboro, to Newport society. Inviting 500 guests, each was escorted by footman into the Main Hall which was dominated by a beautiful floral piece consisting of a large bronze fountain, water hyacinths and fairy lamps. Live hummingbirds and butterflies fluttered about the blossoms while guests danced to three orchestras playing in the Gold Room. Nine French chefs prepared the dinner, one course alone consisted of four hundred mixed birds..

…Alva found success in her mission as Consuelo was proposed to that night. She dutifully accepted…at her mother’s insistence.

In 1896 Alva remarried Oliver Belmont, a friend of William, and moved into his cottage across the street. She closed Marble House, but continued to use only it’s laundry facilities as she liked it better than those in her ‘new’ home.

As I listen intently to every word of tour, I am captivated by the lives of these people and astounded by the fact that wealth of such magnitude as well as a prodigious lifestyle were so nonchalantly exploited.

I imagine, as most people visiting here, what it would be like to live such a life of grandeur. With literally every need and desire met, there was nothing but socialization that needed attention …along with the proper presentation of oneself.

..As I try to envision a day in the life, I can only wonder if such luxury brought the contentment we imagine it would…

As we leave Newport and begin our journey home, I take with me a memory of a glimpse into an era and lifestyle I will never know.

Although such extravagances shall forever elude me, I am entranced with this phase of time nonetheless..

Captivated with the grandeur of the Gilded Age and enraptured by my own imagination,

..I am enticed into visiting… again…and again.

Until next time…Liz

***I found a link for some interior photographs…

Click Here to view the Great Hall in the Breakers..

Click Here to view the Dining Room and Gold Room at Marble House..