newport rhode island

Fairholme, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates

Today's estate, Fairholme is one of Newport, Rhode Island's treasures. The Tudor-style estate is on 4.3 acres of Newport's legendary Gilded Age coastline with 425 feet of ocean frontage. The five-bedroom main house is a Frank Furness-designed home built circa 1875. Fairholme was first created as a "summer cottage" for Fairman Rogers of Philadelphia, a wealthy arts patron and engineer. Twenty years later, the Drexel family purchased the property and updated it. After that it was bought by the the Count and Countess Alphonso Villa, followed by industrialist railroad magnate Robert Young, whose wife Anita was the sister of artist Georgia O'Keefe. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were close friends of the Youngs and were frequent guests at the estate during their tenure there, as was Jack Kennedy. More recently it belonged to publishing heir Gilbert Kahn. The compound also includes a six bedroom carriage house, three interconnected greenhouses, and a swimming pool with a pavilion and outdoor living area overlooking the Atlantic.

The 20,000+ square foot main house has a Gothic tripartite entrance porch. Inside, silk covered walls, molded plasterwork and limestone fireplace blend together in the entrance hall. The great hall has leaded glass windows and doors and leads to a receiving room with a marble fireplace, a paneled library with a carved wood fireplace, an oceanfront salon and a barrel-vaulted Horace Trumbauer ballroom. A colonnaded terrace runs parallel to the salon, overlooking a soft green lawn that runs toward the ocean. The entertaining options including a dining room with ocean views, a waterfront kitchen and butler's pantry. The service wing is located beyond the dining room and two additional floors of staff living and sleeping rooms are located directly above.

The second floor is divided into two oceanfront master suites, both with stone terraces, bedrooms, sitting rooms, offices, baths, fireplaces, dressing rooms, and custom designed closets. Three additional luxury bedroom suites and two smaller bedrooms are situated on the third floor. An elevator serves all three floors and the basement level. A natural gas powered generator is capable of running all systems in the main house as well as providing power to the 3 bedroom carriage house apartment.

The infinity edge swimming pool and pool house pavilion are sheltered from breezes within a brick enclosure. On the shore side, retractable glass walls offer a view while two heated marble cabanas, a covered lounging area, and an extensive sound system add to the ambiance.

Three heated greenhouses provide flowers, plants and topiaries, including Fairholme's signature pink geraniums. The 4000+ square foot carriage house contains a three bedroom apartment, a one bedroom apartment, two staff suites, an office, a gym, several storage garages and a main parking garage that can accommodate five cars. It is listed at $18 million with Lila Delman.

Gallery: Fairholme

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Honeysuckle Lodge, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

I'm always a sucker for the old homes in Newport, Rhode Island. Another beauty has hit the market. This one hasn't been on the market in over 30 years. It has a Peabody and Stearns estate circa 1896 and is located along Newport's famous Cliff Walk. The home is on over two acres of Olmstead-designed grounds including wide green lawns sweeping down to the ocean's edge. The property includes a main residences as well as a two-unit carriage house. It has a modern gourmet kitchen but much of the rest of the house is rooted in its exquisite past. Graceful touches include a wide, curving staircase, padded window seats facing the ocean view, and stately columns. This one is listed at $12 million.

Gallery: Honeysuckle Lodge

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Belcourt Castle, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Another beautiful home in Newport, Rhode Island has hit the market. I've had my eye on it since 2006 when the "summer cottage" designed by Richard Morris Hunt was in transition after the death of owner, Donald Tinney who had bought the home in 1956 for $25,000. Mrs. Tinney has vowed to preserve the home, a 65-room, 19th century castle that has been open for years for tours and private events and the couple had battled a long time to keep the home, waging a legal battle against a handyman that Ruth Tinney, Donald's mother, had adopted after her husband's death. The home was almost sold to Peter de Savary, the English businessman who developed Carnegie Abbey in Portsmouth but the deal fell through. The castle re-opened for tours at that time and like other homes in the area is rented out for weddings and events.

But now, as Robert Frank of the Wall Street Journal's Wealth Report reveals, the home is up for sale. The 60-room mansion was built in 1894 for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, the youngest son of August Belmont, of Rothschild Banking fame. It is said to have cost $3 million to build a figure that Frank says is equal to about $75 million in today's dollars. Belcourt Castle was used to display his collections of armor, medieval manuscripts and things related to Oliver Belmont's love of horses (the Belmont Stakes horse race was named for his father). The entire first floor was composed of carriage space and a multitude of stables for Belmont's prized horses. Belmont later married Alva Vanderbilt, the former wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt who converted the carriage room into a banquet hall and transformed a study into a boudoir. The house itself isn't haunted but it is said that the Gothic ballroom has haunted chairs and a suit or armor that may also be haunted. It is listed for $7.2 million with Judy Chace.

A far more well-preserved example of Gilded Age decadence, the Astors home, Beechwood Manor in Newport has been on the market for two years and started at $16 million but is now listed at $12.9 million. Oakwood, another home with an Astor provenance hit the market for $10.75 million last year and has been reduced to $7.9 million. Hopedene on Newport's famous Cliff Walk went on sale last year at $22.5 million and now sits at $19.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Belcourt Castle

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The Tower at Carnegie Abbey

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

A project in Portsmouth, Rhode Island will ring in a new era of luxury living for the town near Newport, once the summer home of some of America's richest and still an excellent place to while away the summer. The Tower at Carnegie Abbey will have 80 condos in the 220-foot-tall tower. The tower is part of the $220 million Carnegie Harbor Village complex which includes the Carnegie Abbey golf course and sporting club. The tower has views of Narragansett Bay and will have 24-hour concierge service, a fitness center and spa. The interiors are designed by Ralph Lauren Home and the building is expected to be a second home for wealthy tenants. At the base of the tower there are 21 Royal Cottages, which are townhouses selling for $2 to $3 million and 35 waterfront estate lots have been sold. The units in the tower range from $695,000 to $7 million for the penthouse. Around half of the units have already been sold and occupancy is expected for next year.

[via The Newport Daily News]

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