After spending a couple of days around my friends' beautiful home, we decided to have a trip to Newport, RI.
We booked an inn for a night and headed to Newport. I was still sick and very tired so, I slept through the three hour drive.
We bought tickets to visit two of the Newport Mansions (called cottages by the owners) of the Gilded Age: The Breakers and Marble House.
I have been to palaces and mansions in Europe and these "cottages" were no less in terms of lavishness and in terms of the extraordinary amounts of money poured into them. The families would use these places only for a few weeks during summer months and yet, they were quite the match for French Palaces. Yes, these people earned a lot of money by building railroads in the United States but, spending that kind of money is not justifiable in my opinion. Especially, given that the country faced with the Big Depression in a few decades down the line.
Their heirs unfortunately could not deal with the upkeep of these places and now the Preservation Society of Newport County is making an excellent job to keep the mansions in good shape and entertain the curious crowds visiting Newport.
You may want to pay special attention to the Platinum Panels below and some pictures:
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| Ceiling- The Breakers |
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| The Breakers |
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| Platinum Panels! |
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| The Kitchen- The Breakers |
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| China Cabinets- The Breakers |
Marble House and the rest of my Newport trip will be the subject of another post
Those were impressive. I imagine one of those panels is worth more than my whole life. And, most people live in less room than the kitchen area. Do they have a ladder to reach the China? I have always been flummoxed by "cottage" when these mansions are not the kind of cottage most of us know.
ReplyDeleteActually I do live in less room than the whole kitchen area:) Lol! They had a staircase going up to the upper china cabinets. They do not let you see the servants' quarters. As I understand, they were not very comfortable.
DeleteInteresting! Quite the opulence they had.
ReplyDeleteWords are not enough to describe it. If they had invested that kind of money in the economy, may be the Great Depression would not happen.
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