June 29

Newport Villas: The Revival Styles, 1885-1935 (2009)

By Michael Kathrens

Newport, Rhode Island was one of 5 major seaports in British North America (along with Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Charleston, SC).  The city was a major center of arts and crafts and its 100 cabinet makers sold their fine furniture all along the Eastern seaboard while their merchants imported from Great Britain all of the factory-made goods (bolts of fabric, brass tacks, etc) the colonists were not permitted to produce.  After the War for Independence (1776-1783), the city was pretty much evacuated but it became a summer resort for wealthy southerners and, later, - in the gilded age - for New York industrialists.  These men were wealthy enough to build summer vilas that emulated the palaces of Europe.  Some of these "cottages" were Italianate or shingle styled, while others were inspired by French chateau (e.g., Marble House, Rosecliff) or by the Italian Renaissance (The Breakers). Many featured rooms that were faced with marble, whether ballrooms, dining rooms, or music rooms.  Their kitchens were often manned by French chefs who prepared dinners for up to several hundred guests.

Michael Kathrens describes 50 of these villas, providing interesting stories on the owners who commissioned them and the architects who designed them, as well as what eventually happened to each home (whether sold, demolished, repurposed as condos, school, etc).  Photos and floor plans are included.  A location map would have been helpful. Some of the villas were built as late as the 1930s as the gilded age was winding down, the victim of the implementation of the US income tax in 1913 and the great depression.

The Elms, the summer home of coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind, is one of the featured villas.  Providence Business New recently published an article entitled "The Cost of Preserving History".  Read the article here and see page 5 where I am pictured giving a tour at The Elms. :)