The Newport Mansions

[Music] welcome to this special episode of creative living I'm Jane Munzer Asst today we're in beautiful Newport Rhode Island to explore some of the incredible mansions and their place in American history I'm standing in the Elms one of the eleven historic mansions that you can tour but before we take our tour let's see what's coming up on the show we'll reveal how the servants lived in these mansions and it may not be what you're thinking you'll see some of the most opulent estates in the u.s. right here in Newport and how Rhode Island played a part in the woman's suffrage movement that ends so much more on this special episode of creative living here in Newport Rhode Island you could find almost 400 years of American history and the mansions of the Preservation Society of Newport County are a highlight of that history now you may think only the wealthy let exciting lives in these fancy houses but the lives of the servants were often quite as interesting the importance of preserving 250 years of architecture here in Newport is immeasurable because Newport is really a laboratory if one is interested in American domestic architecture this is the place to come it's an immersion in architecture and that's why I think the work of the Preservation Society in taking care of so many houses 11 of them is so important the stories of the houses are the stories of the rich and powerful who built them and the domestic staffs who made the houses operated without domestic staff the houses with lifeless Downton Abbey teaches us a lot about servant life in England and some of the servants here were new porters who came to work for the families and then after the summer season was over would go back to their homes here in Newport and then others were transported up from New York to Philadelphia so there might have been as many as 27 domestic servants working on the inside of a house and as many as 16 working on the grounds handling the horses handling carriages and so the domestic service living in the house was only part of the total domestic service staff the early 1900's were a period when there was labor trouble everywhere and Newport was not immune from it as this article from the New York world from July 6 1902 plainly indicates the elms had its own strike and the Bourbons had the standard response they fired the entire staff domestic service was hard work and a hard way to make a living but it had its rewards especially for immigrants this is an example of one of the really well furnished servants rooms that you'll see when you take a servant life tour at the Newport mansions we're in what we believe was Nellie Lynch's bedroom and Nellie Lynch was in service at the elms for a number of years and we know a great deal about her so when you take a servant life to her here you're really going to get to know her from the memoirs of herself and her nieces an important part of the quality of life for someone in domestic service was the quality of their own domestic facilities and this one is an example of one of three that are on the servants floor here at the Elms now in the era when the great hotels were opening like the plaza in New York if you've got a letter of recommendation from the bur winds or the van der Bilt's of the asters saying you've been in domestic service for 18 years and I run the Plaza Hotel you bet I want to offer you a job there was tremendous upward mobility for people not only there but also in the great department store chain's this is Rudolf Standish who came to be known as the omelette King and he developed quite a reputation for making the perfect omelette and it made him a national celebrity in fact here's a photograph with comedian Carl Reiner from the 1950s if it can be said that the butler's pantry was the nerve center for any great house then I guess the kitchen would certainly be thought of as the soul and chef Paul Pascal for many many years presided over this incredible very much like the kitchens in the Great Houses not only of Newport but New York and elsewhere there are many many more stories here at the Newport mansions come visit us we are here at the kitchen in the albums where the servants spent a lot of time the Preservation Society gives over 1 million tours a year to people from all over the world and if you'd like to take the serpent life tour just head to their website I am here with president and CEO of discover Newport Evan Smith to talk about all things Newport I mean this is such a historic and exciting town give me an overview what is the community like well first of all I want to give you a warm welcome to Newport Rhode Island all your viewers it's really wonderful to have you here you may not know it but you're on an island and so we have island life here the city of Newport and two other towns are on Aquidneck Island there's 25,000 people in the city and 58,000 people on the island that's our winter population but we are a four-season New England town that population swells to over a hundred thousand in the summer when we hit our peak travel season and a lot of things to do here and the mansions are one of those big draws here is what is the impact in like on Newport because of these beautiful mansions well the mansions deserve so much credit for having saved some of the greatest architecture in America there was a very difficult chapter of history here where we lost a lot of this great architecture and without the Preservation Society we would have lost a number of these great homes forever they have been working tirelessly to preserve these beautiful homes and so the work that they have done is absolutely priceless and saving what I consider to be some of the best architecture in America a number of Americans have seen the TV show Downton Abbey and they've fallen in love with Downton Abbey and they've seen the great architecture of the show but many of them may not be able to visit England or the rest of Europe to see castles Newport Rhode Island is a place that they can come and experience America's Casas this was a unique chapter of American history where this extraordinary architecture was built and so for for people to come here and see the and architecture and the landscaping that went into these properties is is just so inspiring now these mansions we know they're not open 24 hours a day so we have to do other things here in Newport what else would you recommend well when someone's considering a visit here they may have a vision of a New England Seaport you're thinking of fishing boats you're thinking of lighthouses you might be thinking of the white church steeple on the harbor Newport is all of that and much more this is a city where literally history sport and culture come to life okay so they can visit other attractions like the Tennis Hall of Fame they can visit Fort Adams which is the largest fortification on American East Coast we have wonderful car museums here the list of attractions is so long but they can go shopping we have some of the best restaurants in America here so it's a really fabulous vacation for people and we hope your viewers will consider a visit to Newport Rhode Island and I've heard about the cliff walk I heard that's a do not miss explain it the cliff walk is a path it's a footpath that you're a hiking trail that's three and a half miles long and it goes along the south eastern coast of this island and it gives you a Florence one a view of not only the ocean and a very rugged coastline which is very beautiful you're going to see all the great homes along Bellevue Avenue so for first-timers we're planning our summer trips best advice you can give for a first-time or visiting Newport 3 things you really have to do one you have to see the great newport mansions - you need to get out on the water and experience the city by the sea and 3 you have to try some of our great food our seafood ok so if you get those three things done in your travel checklist you've got a good start going you have so much knowledge and insight thank you so much for sharing with us thank you for bringing the show to Newport Rhode Island absolutely if you want more information about Newport just head to their website construction of the elms was completed in 1901 for an estimated cost of 1.4 million dollars certainly worth a little bit more today but it's not for sale don't go anywhere there's more coming up on creative living if you like the home featured in Downton Abbey you'll want to see the Gilded Age mansions we have to show you and we'll explore the influence of design and architecture that dates back to the American Revolution [Music] the Gilded Age made popular by Downton Abbey refers to a period from the late 1860's to 1896 now this is a time where the American economy grew the fastest it ever had in history and with that growth came enormous wealth which produced some of the most opulent estate houses in the US and Europe the Preservation Society of Newport County maintains five critically important historic houses that are identified with the Gilded Age beginning with Chateau Sir mayor which is actually a Victorian but it was the first great stone mansion along Bellevue Avenue in Newport and then there is Rose Cliff there are the Elms marble house and The Breakers given the fact that history is not taught in American schools in the way it used to be historic houses like ours really become the classroom for people to learn about the history of our nation so I think we play a very important role here in Elva Vanderbilt's dining-room when you had lunch with Alva when she had lunch with her children only French could be spoken Alva had a distinct attitude about the way Europeans looked at Americans because from her experience having grown up and been educated in France she understood the Europeans pretty much thought of us as the Hicks from the sticks well this pretty much dispels that myth doesn't Alva Vanderbilt is a remarkable figure in history and very interesting because she came from a middle-class family in the south the family during the civil war went to France which was not unusual to escape the ravages of war she became a Francophile and came back to the United States was fortunate enough to marry William Vanderbilt one of the richest men in the world and then went on to really make a stamp for the Vanderbilt family by building two glorious houses that were designed by Richard Morris hunt and Alva I think Americans and actually Europeans and people around the world because our visitation comes from an international body people are very much interested in history and in architecture and in museums in general and they're coming in droves and they're coming as young people and they're coming as older people I think that we owe a debt of gratitude to Julian Fellowes for writing that script and making it so interesting and 9 o'clock on Sunday night everybody was watching the series introduces us to a period of in history in England of course not America slightly later than what we represent but the same kind of conflict Downton Abbey is heart-wrenching in that you can see a family doing all that it can do to hold on to a piece of property and a lifestyle that they love but it's harder and harder to do that and you see that here in Newport as well the Preservation Society of Newport County gives over a million tours a year and in fact this summer we just gave our 40 millionth tour since we were founded in 1945 people visit mansions like marble house here from over a hundred countries and all 50 states and it's an experience that is found at this building and ten more locations around Newport you can experience 250 years of American history architectural as well as interior design and decorative arts by visiting any one or all of these properties rosecliff built in the Gilded Age is one of the mansions available to tour in Newport now it was built to resemble the Grand Trianon of Versailles the oceanfront home has been used as the backdrop for movie scenes in the great gatsby Amistad True Lies and 27 dresses don't go anywhere there's much more creative living coming up we'll show you how 250 years of history influenced the architecture of these mansions and how one of these mansions played an important role in the history of women's right to vote like what you see here follow us on instagram at creative living show creative living imagine what you can do [Music] here's the Newport mansions you'll be able to explore 250 years of American history the diversity of architecture and design reaches all the way back to before the American Revolution the properties of the Preservation Society of Newport County are important and impressive not only because of their size or because they're built out of stone like rose cliff or marble house there are other houses we call them the smaller houses such as Kings code behind me or chepstow the Isaac Belle house or hunter house which are smaller and earlier but equally important so this building was originally conceived by the American designer Richard Upjohn for a Georgia plantation owner in the 1840s George noble Jones would later sell to the King family and they would bring in Stanford White to expand the building in a very interesting way because what they did was they split the building in half that side and that side originally up John's work but in the center you have the new wing which was Stanford White's work and in there we see some incredible uses of Tiffany glass every house from hunter house all the way up to Chateau Sir Marian the Isaac Belle house represent a different part of American architectural history and a different part of American history Newport as well I think hunter house is one of those houses that is it was built in 1748 with ink and it is one of those houses that not only did we as an organization the Preservation Society of Newport County get our start with hunter house but it is really an important colonial building Kings code is an interesting building and that the room that was inserted into the building it was divided is probably one of the most important rooms in America today with the Tiffany blocks on one wall and a lot of accoutrements by Tiffany himself finding interesting design features is what we always look for when we're touring the houses of the Preservation Society we're in Issac Bell house right now and we're looking at a couple of those very interesting design features one of them is this floor to almost ceiling window but the beautiful trick is that it will open all the way up and so that window will turn from a Florida seeming window into a floor-to-ceiling door indoors and outdoors moving back and forth the great movement of light in the house it's an important part of a design school called the shingle style shingle style predates the emergence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie school but there is a real mixture of many of the same kind of design elements particularly the use of materials from the earth itself houses like this as well as houses like chepstow Kings coat hunter house and even break in the house at Green amell's are houses that give us that feel for American architecture in an earlier age in a sometimes simpler age but also a sometimes much more sophisticated age there aren't many places where you can see such historical houses like here in Newport from the humble Colonials to the looming Victorians and the Vanderbilt mansion known as the breakers the breakers is the grandest of the Newport estates and is a true symbol of the Vanderbilt family wealth and social standing at the turn of the century stick around more create a living coming up will show you the impact that Newport had on history-making events like abolitionism and the women's suffrage movement [Music] another property on the tour is marble house which was a summer home for the Vanderbilts now before Newport became known as a place where wealthy people summered it was a seedbed for religious and ethnic tolerance in America and the women's suffrage movement can trace their roots back to marble house welcome to the Newport mansions including The Breakers The Elms marble house Rose cliff Chateau sur Mer this year our annual special exhibition features the lives of Alice and helped uh Vanderbilt and their daughters Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and Consuelo Vanderbilt balsa in the special exhibition becoming Vanderbilt we're standing at the breakers and this is a portrait of Alice done by the spanish painter Madrazo she and her contemporary Alva Vanderbilt of course built marble house were obviously of the same family they had married two brothers but they were very different women so we thought placing them in the context of the Gilded Age here in Newport would provide a platform to really talk about kind of their place in history and then how also their lives influenced that of their daughters and how the daughters really went on to form their own identities in that new generation Alva Vanderbilt is a remarkable figure in history and today we are in 2020 going to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment and part of the really the credit goes to Alva Vanderbilt leadership on this issue she hosted several rallies here and so it's exhilarating these rallies attracted women from all over the world some of the leading lights with the suffrage movement we're speaking here trying to rally others to get involved in the movement Consuela was one of three children of Alpha and Alva put all of her heart and soul and hope into Consuelo Alva very much wanted to make sure that the vanderbilt name was associated with royalty that person turned out to be the duke of marlborough was not a marriage that either Consuela nor the Duke wanted Consuela was truly a philanthropist and also a volunteer par excellence she did many many duties around England and also in France and helping impoverished mothers and helping children that were in need Alice really met Cornelius Vanderbilt teaching Bible studies in in Sunday school and she was an active participant in the church as was Cornelius and yes they did entertaining but not in the scale that Alva and William did entertaining she was I think much more down-to-earth Gertrude Vanderbilt was I think most interesting and that she issued the social status of her parents she was not at all interested in being a Vanderbilt she really wanted to become engaged in the art world and her collection became so vast in the hundreds and hundreds of pieces that she actually offered the collection up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with the promise to build a wing to house this collection and the Met turned her offer down so what did she do she went out and decided to found her own Museum and that museum today is the Whitney she in her own right was a great sculptor as' and produced pieces around the world you can find them in Cody Wyoming you can find them off the coast of France you can find them in New York City so she really was an accomplished artist on top of being a collector as we've shown you the people history and architecture are unique here in Newport Rhode Island we've only touched the surface of what the Preservation Society of Newport County has to offer visitors and we want to thank everyone here for sharing their stories and hosting us in these indescribable mansions you'd like more information on touring these incredible places just head to their website thanks so much for joining us here on creative living I'm Jane Mansour's and I'll see you next time [Music]

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Views: 100,562

Rating: 4.8308368 out of 5

Keywords: Newport Rhode Island, The Preservation Society of Newport County, The Vanderbilt's, The Elms, The Breakers, Marble House, Historical Mansions, newport mansions, beautiful historic homes, Vanderbilt house, Vanderbilt's house, houses from the gilded age, the gilded age mansions, Vanderbilt hous, things to see in Newport, The breakers mansion, Who owns the breakers mansion, marble house interior, Rhode Island tourism, what to see in Rhode Island, what to do in Rhode Island

Id: cfBTX4WZyqM

Length: 22min 34sec (1354 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 15 2020