Newport Contemplations
/It’s been a month since I returned from my Newport vacation and I’ve been thinking about the highlights with the little bit of distance. During the vacation and immediately afterwards there was an overwhelming amount of detailed memory; the gist of the vacation was illusive.
Now - I find that I remember one or two details about each of the houses/mansions:
- Marble House - two rooms on each side of the grand staircase landing
- Rosecliff - ballroom with windows on each side
- The Breakers - loggias
- Isaac Bell House - porches
- Kingscote - dining room with Tiffany windows and cork ceiling
- The Elms - lacquer wall pieces
- Chepstow - decoupage lamps
- Chateau-Sur-Mer - Minton tiles, stained glass skylight in a bathroom
- Hunter House - Newport chairs, stair railing older the house (used from a house that burned prior to its construction)
- Green Animals (house) - toy collection
The Cliff Walk is the only thing I wish we had done more; the weather didn’t give us time to walk the whole length.
There were a number of surprises that I remember with delight
- Nautilus earrings (Smithsonian design)
- The Loose Tea place (same as in Orlando from last fall) where I bought the same teas (plus some new ones)
- Feather sculpture at Blithewold
- Monarch butterflies at Blithewold and Green Animals
Two closing thoughts about Newport -
Recent studies have shown that wealth beyond the amount required for satisfaction of ‘needs’ does not correlate with happiness. Based on the histories of the people that came for a few weeks each summer to their mansions in Newport in the late 1800s/early 1900s - that correlation was as true during the ‘Golden Age’ just as it is today.
Architectural ornament is fragile even when there is significant attention to preservation. It is requires continuous attention and work on peeling paint, chipped stone, rusting iron, cracked leather and lacquer, bubbled plaster, and rotting wood. All were observable in these grand houses.
