This week I’ve been writing about various mansions I toured in Newport, Rhode Island, following our trip to New York last Christmas. Newport is only a few hours drive from New York. I found this house a little less opulent than the iconic Vanderbilt mansions “Marble House” and “Breakers” I wrote about earlier this week. But it was interesting and pretty none the less. I spent less time here (around 30 minutes as opposed to 2 hours) and I was sorry there was no cafe. This is the second last mansion we visited, called “Rosecliff”.
COST: $2.5 Million
Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini.
“Tessie”, as she was known to her friends, was born in Virginia City, Nevada. Her father, James Graham Fair, was an Irish immigrant who made an enormous fortune from Nevada’s Comstock silver lode, one of the richest silver finds in historyDuring a summer in Newport, Theresa met Hermann Oelrichs playing tennis at the Newport Casino.They were married in 1890. A year later, they purchased the property known as Rosecliff from the estate of historian and diplomat George BancroftAn amateur horticulturist, Bancroft grew thousands of roses at Rosecliff and his gardens along the Cliff Walk were famousThe Oelrichs later bought additional property along Bellevue Avenue and commissioned Stanford White to replace the original house with the mansion that became the setting for many of Newport’s most lavish parties.Rosecliff is now preserved through the generosity of its last private owners, Mr. and Mrs. J. Edgar Monroe, of New Orleans. They gave the house, its furnishings, and an endowment to the Preservation Society in 1971.The view of the ocean at the Bottom levelScenes from several films have been shot on location at Rosecliff, including The Great Gatsby, True Lies, Amistad and 27 Dresses.Enter a caption
