Take a look inside Rosecliff, a 30-room mansion built for a Gilded Age heiress and modeled after a French palace
Talia Lakritz
- Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island, was built for a silver heiress during the Gilded Age.
- It measures 28,800 square feet and features 30 rooms, including Newport's largest ballroom.
During the Gilded Age, Rosecliff in Newport, Rhode Island, was the summer home of Theresa "Tessie" Fair Oelrichs, a silver heiress.
Oelrichs' father, James Fair, was a Nevada senator who helped discover the Comstock Lode, the largest lode of silver ore in the US. His $40 million fortune earned him the nickname "Bonanza King," and Oelrichs became known as the "Bonanza Heiress."
When she married Hermann Oelrichs in 1890, Fair gave the couple $1 million as a wedding gift. They commissioned an architect named Stanford White in 1899 to build a summer cottage, and Rosecliff was completed in 1902.
During her summers at Rosecliff, Oelrichs hosted guests for a fairytale-themed dinner and booked magician Harry Houdini for one of her famous parties.
Rosecliff is one of several Gilded Age mansions in Newport that have been preserved and turned into museums, and it still functions as an event space in addition to a historical site. Take a look inside.
At 28,800 square feet, Rosecliff features 30 rooms.
Rosecliff cost an estimated $2.5 million to build during the Gilded Age — around $91.4 million in today's dollars.
Tours of the property are considerably more affordable. One adult ticket costs $25 and can be purchased through the Preservation Society of Newport County. An app called Newport Mansions also offers self-guided audio tours of Rosecliff and other Gilded Age mansions in the area such as the Breakers.
I visited Rosecliff during a period in August when admission was free but only the first floor of the mansion was open to the public.
The architect, Stanford White, based the design on King Louis XIV's Grand Trianon palace in Versailles.
In the Gilded Age, wealthy members of society thought of themselves as royalty and modeled their homes after European palaces accordingly.
King Louis XIV commissioned Grand Trianon in 1670. Rosecliff's similarities to the French palace are visible in the shape of the building as well as the design of the windows and exterior.
Tours of Rosecliff began in the foyer, where a heart-shaped staircase made for grand entrances.
When guests arrived for one of Oelrichs' gatherings, the women would climb the stairs to hand off their outerwear and then descend the grand staircase with dramatic flair.
"The stairs are really designed for you to be seen," Abigail Stewart, the research and interpretation coordinator for the Preservation Society of Newport County, said in the audio tour.
Oelrichs would stand and greet her guests in Rosecliff's French Rennaissance-style salon.
Most wealthy women in Newport during the Gilded Age were expected to host at least six dinner parties every summer, each with at least a dozen courses and live music.
The crystal chandelier was decorated with musical instruments.
Upon closer examination, lyres and trumpets were visible in the design.
The Gothic fireplace featured French limestone panels that were cast from an original Rennaissance chimneypiece.
All of the main rooms and bedrooms had functioning fireplaces, even though Rosecliff was equipped with central heating.
The salon led into the enormous ballroom, the largest single private room in all of Newport.
Measuring 40 feet by 80 feet, the ballroom has been featured in films such as "The Great Gatsby," "27 Dresses," and "Amistad."
True to Oelrichs' legacy, the ballroom still hosts weddings, galas, and other gatherings.
The ballroom can seat 160 people for dinner and dancing, according to the Preservation Society of Newport County.
As a fan of the HBO show "The Gilded Age," I recognized the ceiling from the show's opening credits.
"If you visualize the setting lit by the gas of the period, it would have given you the impression of being outdoors at sunset," Paul Miller, a curator at Rosecliff, said of the ceiling painting in the audio tour.
The library was Hermann Oelrichs' domain where he and other men would relax and smoke cigars.
Hermann Oelrichs worked for the North German Lloyd shipping line. He died at sea in 1906, but he and Oelrichs had already been separated and living on opposite coasts for years.
The walls featured paintings of horse racing.
Hermann Oelrichs was an award-winning swimmer and athlete.
In the dining room, Oelrichs hosted 200 people for dinner in the summer of 1913.
The walls were green with gold accents when Oelrichs lived at Rosecliff, but they've since been painted white.
The dining room also featured an ornate earthenware stove from Vienna.
The mirrored panels in the corner of the room hid the butler's pantry.
Rosecliff is surrounded by 8 acres of gardens.
The grounds featured flower gardens as well as statues and decorative trellises.
The coastal property also featured stunning ocean views.
Rosecliff overlooks Sheep Point Cove and is located along Newport's Cliff Walk, which passes by some of the area's historic homes.
With Rosecliff's gigantic ballroom and timeless glamour, I could see why it remains a popular setting for parties.
At Rosecliff, I could imagine Oelrichs entertaining guests in glittering candlelit rooms during the Gilded Age just as much as I could picture attending a modern wedding or gala there. It's a captivating place to visit in any century.
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