Rosecliff- Newport, RI

Newport, Rhode Island is a perfectly preserved Gilded Age playground. It’s an absolute architectural wonderland, where you can lose yourself for days wandering around estates owned by the elite of the Industrial Age. Seasonal homes, only occupied for a few months each year, these magnificent creations were meant to showcase the ridiculous wealth of the titans that commissioned them. In this respect, Rosecliff was an unmitigated success.

Intended for entertaining, Rosecliff was built for Nevada Silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrich, whose father was one of the four partners in the legendary Comstock Lode. In 1898, with a virtually unlimited budget, Oelrich retained superstar architect Stanford White (McKim, Mead & White) to design an outlandishly impressive party palace. He delivered.

Inspired by Versailles’ Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of Louis XIV, White created a magnificent French Baroque Beaux Arts mansion, well suited for entertaining. Constructed of brick and clad in white terracotta tiles, the house consisted of a large central block, fronted by an arcade of arched windows and paired Ionic columns, flanked by two wings. Above, a balustraded roofline concealed the third story servant’s rooms. At the front door, guests were greeted by a decorative glass and wrought iron canopy.

Inside, White added an extra dose of drama, in the form of a heart shape divided staircase, perfectly placed for making a grand entrance. Keeping with its intended purpose, the entire first floor of the main mansion block housed the ballroom, Newport’s largest at 40 by 80 feet. Unable to wait, Theresa hosted her first party in 1900, a full two years before construction was finished.

Designed with a series of French doors, the ballroom opened directly to the mansion’s rear terrace, which provided additional entertaining space on the lawn and in the garden. A substantial balustraded seawall provided privacy from the unwashed masses, all but blocking views of the home from the popular Cliff Walk.

Keeping with tradition, the mansion’s grandest spaces occupied the first floor, including a French Renaissance salon, formal dining room, and wood paneled library. Massive murals, ornamental plaster, and decorative carvings adorned every surface, to glamorous effect. Slightly less showy, the second floor housed three bedroom suites and a handful of guest rooms.

Completed in 1902, for the substantial sum of $2.5 million, Theresa Oelrich remained at Rosecliff long after the rest of Newport society moved on. Left isolated and alone, she suffered a mental breakdown; her final years were spent wandered the halls, reliving the grand parties of the past. In 1926, Theresa died at the mansion.

Rosecliff remained in the Oelrich family until 1941, changing hands several times before being bought in 1947 by Edgar Monroe of New Orleans, who used the estate as a summer escape. In 1971, Monroe donated the property, including furnishings and a $2 million operating endowment, to the Newport Preservation Society, sparing it from the fate that befell many other area estates, demolition.