We toured four mansions, which may not seem like a lot but required a ton of walking and we were pretty tired afterwards. The mansions were amazing but we all agree with Mark Twain who was rightfully disgusted by the opulence of Newport when he said, "The golden gleam of the gilded surface hides the cheapness of the metal underneath."
The Breakers was Cornelius Vanderbilt's "Summer Cottage." It has about 65,000 square feet of living space!
Here's the view from the back patio of the Breakers.
The Elms mansion had a breathtaking yard. It belonged to the Berwind family who made their money in the coal industry.
Marble House was built as a 39th birthday present for William Vanderbilt's wife Alva! She divorced Vanderbilt just 3 years later and moved to another mansion a block away with her new husband (who happened to be one of Vanderbilt's good friends). Alva continued to use the Marble House as a closet for her massive wardrobe!
The view from the backyard of the Marble House, it would be so relaxing to sit out there with a good book and listen to the ocean!
Rosecliff was our last mansion tour of the day, it has a beautiful ballroom that has been used in a lot of movies including "The Great Gatsby," "True Lies," and most recently "27 Dresses." I've never seen any of those movies but we want to rent "The Great Gatsby" and be on the lookout for the Rosecliff!
6 comments:
That is so cool! I didn't realize there were so many neat and beautiful mansions out there. And I think it's funny you guys fell down. I'm glad you weren't hurt but it was really funny to read about! :D
Have you ever read The Jungle? This makes me think of The Jungle.
Poor Dave!! That is a funny story though :) It looks like you guys had a ton of fun.
I know what you mean about the opulence. We took a tour of the Edsel Ford Mansion. It was ridiculous. They didn't have china lamps, they had lamps made of 1000-year-old Egyptian vases drilled to make a lamp. They didn't have marble fireplaces. They had fireplaces from old European castles imported with matching paneling from the same castle. At least we get to enjoy it now too!
Pretty amazing stuff. I guess if you live in a house that big you don't have to worry about cleaning it by yourself...
Dave, I love reading about your adventures on the East Coast. You and Robbie are living it up. I can only dream of what it would be like to live there.
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