The Elms- Newport, RI

Built at the height of Newport’s popularity, The Elms is an excellent example of Gilded Age excess. In the best possible way, of course. A striking, monumental mansion, it could never be duplicated today, although I suppose if Jeff Bezos wanted to, he could. But for the rest of us, it’s fortunate the grand mansion survived its planned demolition day.

Although coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind and his wife Sarah started summering in Newport in the early 1890s, their original home proved far too modest for their lifestyle. In 1898, Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer was commissioned to build a massive mansion in its place, which more appropriately reflected Berwind’s status in society.

Based on the 18th century château d’Asnières, located outside Paris, Trumbauer created a fantastic Classic Revival retreat, which nicely showcased Berwind’s net worth. Taking two years, and costing a cool $1.5 million to construct, the house included every modern innovation available, including electricity. In fact, although electric lighting was still relatively rare in the United States, The Elms had over 1551 fixtures.

Completed in 1901, The Elms was built of brick faced with Indiana limestone, set atop a raised basement, with a two tier terrace in the rear. Here, elaborate formal gardens created by C.H. Miller and E.W. Bowditch included marble pavilions, fountains, sculptures and a carriage house.

Inside, Trumbauer incorporated the French architecture principle of enfilade; as such, all the main rooms on the first floor were aligned along the same axis, including a Reception Hall, Ballroom, Dining Room, Drawing Room, and Conservatory. This layout allowed the Berwind’s to throw elaborate parties, including a 1901 housewarming fete for 400, featuring 2 orchestras, a grove of imported orange trees, and dozens of trained monkeys.

The mansion’s interiors were lushly designed by Jules Allard, a celebrity decorator from Paris, who acted as an overall lifestyle adviser to wildly wealthy Americans. He filled the dining room with 18th century Venetian history paintings, considered the height of sophistication during this era. In the breakfast room, he covered the walls in 18th century Chinese lacquer panels, popular in Paris at the time.

Upstairs, the mansion featured 7 bedrooms, centered around a formal sitting room, which offered magnificent views of the garden, as well as Newport Harbor. A dedicated footman was stationed in the room at all times, raising and lowering the shades on demand. In total, the home required 40 servants, many of whom lived on the home’s third floor.

When Sarah Berwind died in 1922, Edward arranged for his sister Julia to move in and become the home’s hostess; upon his death in 1936, she inherited the estate. She continued to summer at the house until her death in 1961, maintaining a full staff until the end. Although the property was left to her nephew, he did not want it; the home’s contents were auctioned off, and the estate sold to a developer.

Fortunately, in 1962, just weeks before the mansion was to be razed, it was purchased by the Preservation Society, for a paltry $116,000, which included both the property and adjacent guest houses. Almost immediately the house was opened to the public for tours. Over the next fifty years, many of the home’s original furnishings and decorations were returned to the estate, including 6 smaller Venetian paintings that accompanied the large canvases in the dining room.

All around, The Elms is nothing short of spectacular. From the variety of marbles used in the home, to the intricate carved columns and custom cut tapestries that adorn the walls, it is a dashing display of wealth and design. Visually stunning, it manages to outshine many of the other equally opulent Newport mansions, and certainly boasts the grandest gardens, which have recently been restored.