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Newport - Part 2
A Respite from Reality
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
The entire city is the perfect set for, 'Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous (of the early 1900s)'.
Day 2
"Here's a mansion, there's a mansion, everywhere is a big ole' mansion".
When I said there were a lot of mansions I lied. A lot implies many, not a mansion everywhere you turn. In fact, even the outhouses and garages put most houses to shame. The entire area has so many mansions they don't even know what to do with them all.
We woke up and grabbed a big breakfast in the hotel as we figured we had a big day of touring ahead of us.
The first stop was, the Doris Duke Estate, "Rough Point". Rough Point, as the name implies is located near some rough looking rocks, along the water. Some say it's also a bit rough as the owner, Doris Duke, was one tough dame who got her way. As, after a while, the mansions seemed to blend I'll point out what's unique with this mansion, as opposed to the others.
To me, Rough Point was unique in that it was the most modern of the three that we saw. The rooms were filled with antiques and priceless paintings, but were done in such a way that they seemed timeless, almost what I would decorate my own house with if I had an extra few million dollars lying around.
After Rough Point, we headed over to the Mooring Restaurant, which is one of those standard restaurants that the locals seem to always talk about. The prices were very reasonable and I followed the waitress's suggestions of lobster salad while Margherita hit the crab cakes. The food was good and warm, which enabled us to run out again to hit the big batch of mansions.
Our first stop was, The Elms, the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Julius Berwind of Philadelphia and New York. Mr. Berwind made a bit of money in the coal industry of Pennsylvania, and chose to build a summerhouse here for a bit of a get away.
The Elms reminded us a bit more of a Roman Temple then an American mansion in look, but in functionality, it's another story. The Elms was famous for it's automation. They had lights, intercoms, dumbwaiters... the locals joked that the house practically ran itself. In actuality, the mansion was set up in such a way that the staff was virtually unseen. If it was a bit warmer, we would have scheduled some time to also visit the gardens, which were gorgeous.
The last mansion we saw for the day, was The Breakers, which was our favorite. It's incredibly large. Kind of like a massive brick, dropped by the water. When you walk into the entry way it looks like a movie from the 20s. The house is being renovated in certain sections, but it's just so massive, even if you see only a portion of it, you still feel like you've gone through miles.
A two section kitchen, separate his and her bedrooms, a music room... the list of rooms go on and on. Our favorite section, had to be the central hall, which went up a few stories and was massive enough to have a party of a few hundred people.
I'd say that three mansions is the optimal number to see during the weekend. Not too many, not too little. I would also recommend choosing differing mansions like we did, so that you don't feel that it's all the same thing.
After touring all of the mansions we decided to go grab a quick bite to eat (and shopping) at the wharves. All along the wharves are dozens of specialty shops ranging from museum stores to Christmas shops, and everywhere else to spend a few extra bucks. If you want to tour the mansions of the rich and famous you can spend your money and buy things like them too. In fact, we got a mirror that was a recreation of one that we saw in the mansions.
It can take at least an afternoon and a night to go through all of the shops, so plan accordingly.
Read part 1 | Read part 3
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