Newport, Rhode Island recent comments:

This house used to be open for tours. Several years ago it was purchased privately. I also had my senior prom here!

This house was designed and built in the 1860s by Richard Morris Hunt for Mrs. Colford Jones in a neighborhood amid several other Jones family members. Hugh de Laussat Willoughby, purchased the property in the late 1880s and, using RM Hunt, tripled the size of the main house. Captain Willoughby was one of the first (and oldest) air pilots in the U.S. and built a plane, the Pelican on the property.

Oct. 2007--The price has been reduced from $17.5-million to $14.5-million.

An Italianate-style villa, Chepstow was built in 1860 by resident Newport architect George Champlin Mason as the summer residence of Edmund Schermerhorn. Acquired by Mrs. Emily Morris Gallatin in 1911, the estate continued in the Morris family until bequeathed in 1986 to the Preservation Society with its collections intact and an endowment by Mrs. Alletta Morris McBean.

Built inn 1902 for Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs, this exquisite 40-room French chateau features the Court of Love designed by Augustus St.-Gaudens after the one for marie Antoinette at Versailles. Rosecliff and its furnishings along with a generous endowment fund were given to the Preservation Society in 1971 by Mr. and Mrs. J. Edgar Monroe. It was the scene of the filming of "The Great Gatsby" in 1973. Then in 1977 it was used again in the movie "The Betsy".

The Elms was built in 1901 for coal magnate E.J. Berwind. It is a copy of Chateau d'Agnes at Asnieres, France. This mansion was saved from destruction and opened to vistiors in 1962 by the Preservation Society. The house and grounds are considered by many to be the more pleasant and liveable of the Newport "cottages".

This is probably one of the finest examples of lavish Victorian architecture. It was built in 1852 of Fall River granite for William S. Wetmore who made his fortune in the China trade. Richard Morris Hunt was engaged to make substantial changes and additions to the house int he 1870's. In 1969 it was purchased by the Preservation Society. The estate has an unusual arched gate-entrance and a Chinese moon gate. The dining room fireplace mantel was carved in black walmut in 1876 by Luigi Frullini and shows a bacchanalian scene with cherubs drinking wine. The ballroom is where the reception for George P. Wetmore was held in 1889 on the occasion of his inauguration as governor of Rhode Island.

This estate was given to the Preservation Society in 1963 by Harold S. Vanderbilt (the sone of William K. Vanderbilt). The elaborate grille at the front doors is made of gun-metal finish steel and gilt bronze decoration. It is over 16 feet high and 25 feet wide, and the entire grille weights more than 10 tons. Due to their great weight, the central doors turn on heavy pivots insteads of the usual hinges. The Chinese Tea House was built in 1914 by Mrs. O.H.P. Belmont (the former Mrs. William K. Venderbilt).

Miramar was built in 1913 and designed by Horace Trumbauer for railway magnate George D. Widener and his wife, Eleanor. The year before the residence was completed, Mr. & Mrs. Widener, with their son Harry, travelled on the Titanic--of the three, only Mrs. Widener survived. Though in mourning, Mrs. Widener decided to complete the "cottage". With over 700 feet of oceanfront, this French neoclassical-style "cottage" offers commanding views of the Atlantic Ocean. The H-shaped resicence, made of exquisite limestone, sits on 5.9 acres. The residence has over 30,000 square feet of living space. On the first floor, the 28' x 66' Grand Salon / Ballroom faces the 4,000 square foot central terrace. There are two master bedrooms on the second floor, each encompassing 800 square feet. There are an additional nine bedrooms on the second floor, plus sixteen staff bedrooms on the third floor. The estate was given to the Rhode island Episcopal Diocese in 1957 tobe used as a school by the Widener heirs (Mr. George d. Widener of Philadelphia and New York and his sister, Mrs. Eleanor Widener Dixon of Philadelphia) in memory of their mother who died in 1937. The estate was valued at $287,900.00 in 1957. It was sold several times and served as a school and corporate conference center. In August of 1970 the estate was purchased by American Capital Corp. Andrew Panteleakis, president of American Capital Corp. declined to say how much he purchased the estate for. The estate was for sale in 2005 for an asking price of $25,000,000.00.

Champ Soleil was built in 1929. It is a magnificent French Norman chateau on 5.5 acres. It was designed by new York architects Polhemus & Coffin after La lanterne, the celebrated residence near Versailles. The well-known landscape architect Unberto innocenti designed the French parterre and the formal grounds in 1946. It was purchased in 1947 by Robert Gollet, the son of Ogeen Gollet (owner of Newport's Ochre Court)--he completely renovated the mansion. The wrought-iron entry gates are 18th century and were imported from a Queen Anne house in London. The mansion encompasses 22 rooms, including two master bedroom suites with a shared sitting room. The estate was put on the market in 2002 for $5,900,000.00 after Sonny Von Bulow's step-father, Russell Barnett Aitken, passed away. Mr. Aitken was a sculptor, writer and international sportsman.

In 1887,Frederick Vanderbilt commissioned teh largest house that the Newport summer colony had yet seen. Designed by the architectural frim of Peabody and Stearns in what has best been described as the English manorial style, the intent being to evoke the feel of an English country house; however in reality, the design is an interpretation of different Englush sytles of the 16th & 17th centuries--the result in not English at all but unmistakably American. The home has only been ownd by three families--Frederick Vanderbilt, William and Nancy Leeds (who purchased the home when it was only 17 years old), and then James B. "Buck" Duke purchased the estate in 1922 from the Leeds. The Dukes hired architect Horace Trumbauer to make major alterations and additions to the home to better fit their needs, with the firm of White Allom as the interior decorators.

I believe this is where parts of "The Great Gatsby" were filmed.

This is the residence where Sonny Von Bulow supposedly tried to poison his wife, Sunny, twice although he was aquitted on both charges. The last I heard she was still in a coma in a hospital in Manhattan.

one of five residences Doris Duke owned when she died in the early 1990's. This home is now open to the public--well worth the visit. The number of visitors is very limited, so be sure to get in line early for tickets--tickets are purchased in town at the building next to the Marriott Hotel.

The owner seems a bit odd

This place is worth every dime. Competent to a fault for dockage, hauling major and minor repairs. Pricey, but worth it.