A Mansion Visited and a Bucket List Item Crossed Off
Today I tell you about my last full day (Monday) of vacation in the North East area of the United States. First, I will share a little about the Rosecliff Mansion I visited. Second, A little bit about my brush with the Atlantic Ocean. Third, everything else I did this day.
A little background on this property. It was around 1855 a spacious wooden cottage was built and the property became known as Rosecliff. It's located at 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1891, Teresa (Tesse) Fair Oelrichs and her sister Virginia Fair bought the cottage from George Bancroft. Mr.Bancroft was a noted historian, an ambassador and the former Secretary of the Navy. He was locally famous for his gardens, particularly for the many species of roses he grown.
It took her nearly a decade to convince Tesse's husband (Hermann Oelrich) to build a mansion there so she could compete with her society peer neighbors. Both of them inherited wealth. Her father, James Fair and some partners were part of one of the first major silver mining operations in the United States. He accumulated a fortune in excess of 50 million dollars. Hermann was the heir to a steamship fortune here in Newport.
The mansion construction started in 1899 and wasn't completely finished until 1902 and according to accounts it came with a cost of 2 1/2 million dollars (close to 100 million in today's money). The artitect was Stanford White. This mansion is 28,800 sq. feet with around 30 rooms on 21 acres of land. There is a huge back yard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Oh btw its main purpose was to entertain guests as it was a summer retreat. Afterall it was the Gilded Age period for the lifestyle of the richest of rich. This is just one of over dozen mansions on this street.
In 1899, her sister, Virginia married William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. which resided in the nearby Marble house mansion. Tesse did not wait to move in, it was 1900 when she did. Incomplete interior work was just hidden with arrangements of flowers. I defintely get the feeling she was starving for this high society lifestyle.
Two things I really liked about the place were the winding staircase and its large ball room. I can just imagine the parties and the number of people in attendance at them. Today it can be rented and even marriages can be done here. It won't be me because depending on area rented it can cost between $15,000 to $30,000 or more and that's just strictly for rental fees.
The ceiling in the ball room is well decorated and has quite a bit of subject matter. Now if your a fan of the HBO series The Gilded Age you will notice this ceiling in the opening credits. The mansion and other amneties of it have been in the following Hollywood films: The Great Gatsby (1974),True Lies (1994), Amistad (1997), Evening with Meryl Streep (2007) and 27 Dresses (2008)
The first picture was kind of a living room I'm assuming, there were several rooms similiar to this.
The second photo is of the dining room. It was much larger than it appears I just got fixed on the table. The first owner once hosted 200 for dinner at once in this area.
The third photo is a library room. This came into play with the last owners,the Monroe family. They lived in the house from 1947 to 1971. They generously donated the property and a lot of the furnishings to Rhode Island Preservation Society.
The fourth photo I'm not sure what this good sized room was for. It was close to the ballroom so maybe it was a socializing room or greeting room for guests. The lifestyle of the rich and famous! Rooms for every purpose imaginable.
The mansion changed hands a few times. Tesse's son was the next owner but after that it was sold from there on until its last owner. Interesting stories of the happenings here along with crazy amounts of fortune used to entertain and compete within the society. Hope you enjoyed!
After the mansion tour we headed to the beach. Not a hot day around 70° F and the water was somewhere around that temperature. This was at East Matunuck State beach in Kingstown, Rhode Island. The Atlantic Ocean I've seen before but never to just solely visit it. First time for me on an ocean beach it took 51 years to say that!
Upon arriving we had some left over pulled pork sandwiches from the party the day before. Some drinks and chips to go along with it. We then talked about our Ocean experiences. Now I did a lot of listening, haha.
Well a proud moment here. It might sound silly but this is actually a thing crossed off my bucket list. I have never swam in the ocean. I'm feeling good about not having to say that ever again. Well let me share my experiences on it.
I got some pointers from my sister-in-law who is pictured with me in this shot. I walked gingerly up to the water, so many rocks and shells. Once initially in the water more shells and rocks. I nearly fell over due to the rocks and waves coming in as I took a moment to adjust to the water temperature. I took baby steps getting a little deeper each step. The water felt very cold.
Once fully emerged I quickly realized one is very buoyant in the ocean. Every wave that came in pushed me closer to shore. If I was standing I felt the power of the waves lifting me up. It didn't take me long to realize if I wanted to stay put I had to swim into those incoming waves. I probably stayed in for a good 30 minutes. It was comfortable and the water no longer felt cold but I won't lie my mind was thinking about sharks, haha.
After my swim and successfully avoiding any dangerous marine life 🤣, I noticed some very different things swimming in salt water vs fresh water. The ocean is kind healing to the body. I felt like the salt water kind of clears your pours out. I had a couple of bug bites on my legs that were itchy prior to swimming. Maybe it had nothing to do with it but they weren't itchy and sort of got smaller. Another thing I noticed was my hands and skin were sticky. I learned a little bit of baby powder cures that right up. After a quick shower I headed back out the beach.
We all hung out in the beach for a little longer. Than my sisters and I collected some unique stones and shells on the shoreline for momentos. After that some talk about a quick bite to eat somewhere. Right before we left Peggy took a picture of us all.
Yes I got another Lobster roll. They twisted my arm and told me it was different than the one I had in Boston. What to do I had to try to see the differences right? The main differences was this was tastier and bigger than the other. They did tell me they had some really good clam cakes but the mouth was already watering for Lobster. Maybe a good thing this isn't readily available where I'm from because I would be broke, haha. Afterwards we stopped for some Gelato it was super tasty and I forgot what flavor I got but it had a good mix of coconut in it. We all got the mini size and I didn't bother taking a picture it was a rather small sized portion.
A great day and unfortunately the last full day of my trip. I hope you enjoyed and sorry I got a little long. I could have included so much more but decided not too. Maybe I can fill you in more in the comments 😉
Take care, be safe and enjoy the weekend. Until next time!
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What beautiful stairs and ceilings! Super elegant decoration! I love those huge houses that can be visited like a live museum. And later... beach!!! I know, Atlantic Ocean is not the same as the Mediterranean sea, you need to be a good at swimming definitively!
Glad to see you had a nice time there even with typical lobster 🦞 roll!
Happy Saturday amigo!
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Yes a big mansion tour and yes a museum feel. The money spent over 100 years ago to just entertain and rub elbows is even a lot in today valuation. Many more stories and things to see in that mansion. The bad thing is you have to pay entrance for every single mansion.
Oh the feet got into salt water finally, haha. Glad I did it and there will be other opportunities im sure. Now just got to fish it haha!
I could have had something different but damn I love me some fresh Maine Lobster 🦞 Next time maybe something different, lobster anything isn't cheap!
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Very nice! I have not been but need to visit!
The North East is quite the adventure :)
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I was imagining a wedding venue in that mansion. So glamorous. Imagine spending so much money to rent the venue😁.
They said salt water brings healing. Though I haven't tried😁.
That rolled lobster again, I start to Google if there's available here😛😆.
Yes so much money to just rent. You know the rich women would spent up to $30,000 twice a year from a famous designer from Paris in just clothes. Thats 1.2 million in todays dollars!! I get weiry spending more than $20 for a pair of jeans, haha.
Haha I did too I found a food truck here that has it. Only bad thing is the lobster is 1400 miles away so its not exactly fresh im sure. Also found a Filipino food truck. Looking for one and find something else in the process, haha.
Same here. I would hesitate to buy clothes more than 20$. I would spend it in something else😌😌
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That's one grand house! We have many of them in UK which I enjoy visiting and it's nice to see some across the pond. I love The Gilded Age, need to look out for the ceiling next time I watch it
Sounds like a be great day out particularly when you round it off with a lobster roll and gelato!
If time wasnt an issue and we weren't the guests I would have checked out some of the Vanderbilt mansions. I just checked out the opening credits because you reminded me, its at the very end.
Yes not a bad way to end the last full day of the trip. We also drove by an apparent ancestors house built in 1693. Unfornately it was closed and I got no photos because we were moving in car but it is online. I didn't share its got my surname.
That's a gorgeous house, I love the ball room. I have had many a ceilidh in places like that.
Having grown up on the coast and swum in many seas, I always love to see people see the sea or swim in a particular one for the first time. Now next step is swim in the Atlantic at the height of winter 🤣
Why not make it a plunge. I've done in the lakes only the sea 🌊 remains, haha
Hehe over here there is a tradition on New Year to go for a plunge in the sea ... and brrr it is fluffing cold!
Winter water is very cold. When I did it there was literally still ice on the water. The is no adjusting to it. Talk about shrinkage, haha. A robe and warm vehicle were on stand by.
haha shrinkage, yeah it vanishes lol! The sea is cold but no ice in ours.
Yes have to be near artic or really cold environment to see ice on ocean.
Nice one @coolmidwestguy i love swimming in the ocean i prefer it to a pool or elsewhere.
Congrats for ticking something off your bucket list.
The estate house looks cool
Have the best one
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Awesome getting to the seaside and taking your first swim, big strike off the bucket list waiting so long.
Old money, large mansions, some rich really got to play while others slogged through life. Luck of the draw!
Yes the Gilded Age the rich used dollars like toilet paper. Who can out do who! Most of these mansions were summer retreat homes. Their money could have helped so many. Today a few private ones are still inhabited.
Yes a good bucket list items crossed off. What a great vacation I had one to hold onto and remember. Thanks for dropping by :)
Still have excessively rich around, continue with same attitude of "all mine". Getting to the sea would have been the highlight, I cannot imagine not being introduced to the sea at a young age.
That "house" is like a movie, I'm glad you had such a spectacular day, the photographs are very beautiful 😊.
I've never been in many mansions, but the Biltmore house here in North Carolina is pretty awesome to see. I forget how many years it took to build, but I couldn't fathom it and then to see that the man that had it built only lived 6 years after it was completed. That was a whole lot of time and money to only get to enjoy it 6 years I thought. Still, I had a very hard time while walking around in it, imaging someone actually living there day to day.
I enjoyed your story of swimming in the ocean for the first time. When I was growing up, my parents took us to the beach for a week nearly every year and we swam in the ocean every day for hours and hours and played in the sand. Here most of the beaches are sandy and not so full of pebbles. There are piles of shells that wash up here and three from time to time though. We never thought anything about it. It wasn't till after I became an adult that my concern for sharks and jelly fish and the such, pretty much kept me from going out over knee deep. It's true they say the salt water is good for your skin and cuts and the such. Very healing.
Yes the rich and there toys and luxury life styles. When a property is that big they have staff for a lot of things.
This property did have an owner that barely resided in it, died in car accident. There was another who left for the winter and didn't staff it and the water pipes bursted destroying a lot of the interior. There was another who couldn't afford it and it got auctioned off.
Yes the ocean was a good experience and it did feel healing. Perhaps next time I go on a much warmer day. Take care