Beaulieu House, Newport
Beaulieu House | |
---|---|
Bellevue Avenue | |
Coordinates | 41°27′40″N 71°18′17″W / 41.46111°N 71.30472°W |
Construction started | 1859 |
Completed | 1860 |
Client | Federico Barreda |
Owner | Ruth Buchanan Wheeler |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Calvert Vaux |
Beaulieu, or Beaulieu House, is a historic mansion located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, built in 1859 by Federico Barreda. Subsequent owners of Beaulieu have included John Jacob Astor III, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, and his wife Grace Vanderbilt, née Grace Graham Wilson.[1]
History
One of Newport's oldest mansions, Beaulieu was originally built in 1859 by the Peruvian merchant, Federico Barreda, who made his money in the 1850s
It was once described as "the most pretentious and elaborate villa in Newport,"[citation needed] and Barreda's wife later claimed that she supervised up to eighteen servants there. Shortly after the mansion was completed, Barreda was named Peru's minister in Washington. He hired New York City's Delmonico's restaurant to cater one of the first social events held in Beaulieu.
The Astors and Vanderbilts
After the Barredas suffered a reversal of financial fortune,
After William Waldorf Astor moved abroad, he agreed to rent his home to Cornelius Vanderbilt III "Neily", a great-grandson of the "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt family eventually bought the house outright from the Astors in 1911.[7] Once occupied by Neily and his wife, Grace Vanderbilt, the home was again the scene of many social gatherings and popular society.[8][6]
Present day
After the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt III in 1942 and his wife in 1953,
Currently, the house is in private hands and is not available for public viewing.[13][14] The Gilded Age edifice is owned by the family of the late widow of former Ambassador Wiley T. Buchanan Jr., Ruth Buchanan Wheeler (1918-2019), an heiress to the Dow Chemical fortune and mother of Dede Wilsey.[15]
References
- Notes
- ^ Federico Barreda was only twenty-five in 1851 when he was sent to Baltimore, by his brother Felipe, who had secured the contract for the U.S. guano market from the Peruvian government, to oversee distribution of the valuable fertilizer in the United States. Guano riches made the Barredas into wealthy Peruvian oligarchs. In 1853, Federico Barreda married his niece, Matilde Laverrerie Barreda, who was to become the matriarch of the U.S. wing of the Barreda family. The Newport summer residence was built for lavish entertaining that would establish Matilde's place in elite U.S. circles.[2]
- Sources
- ^ "Class and Leisure at America's First Resort". University of Virginia. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
- ^ "Federico L. Barreda Papers, 1856-1879". archives.lib.siu.edu. Southern Illinois University Special Collections Research Center. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Kowsky, Francis R. Country, Park, & City: The Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux. New York: Oxford University Press, 147
- ^ ISBN 9781614236665. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "The Leader of Society". The New York Times. 1 November 1908. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781614236030. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ISBN 9780688103866. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Mrs. C. Vanderbilt Dies At Home Here. Leader of New York, Newport Society for Many Years Was Hostess to Royal Figures". The New York Times. January 8, 1953. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, still recognized as the leader of New York and Newport society although inactive in recent years, died of pneumonia last night at her home, 1048 Fifth Avenue. She was believed to have been in her eighty-third year.....
- ^ "'BEAULIEU' IS ON MARKET; Vanderbilt Summer Home in Newport to Be Sold" (PDF). The New York Times. February 5, 1953. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "NEWPORT ESTATE SPLIT; Vanderbilt Home, Erected in 1856, Divided in Two" (PDF). The New York Times. September 1, 1961. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Hughes, Tyler (18 March 2013). "The Gilded Age Era: 'Beaulieu'". thegildedageera.blogspot.com. The Gilded Age Era. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ a b Pardee, Bettie Bearden (7 September 2017). "Newport Society: Closing Beaulieu for the Season - Private Newport". Private Newport. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Hanson, Conrad (July 1, 2017). "Beyond the Breakers: The Newport Homes of Alice and Cornelius Vanderbilt's Children". www.schoolfieldcountryhouse.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Amory, Cleveland (September 2, 1962). "The Crucial Battle of Modern Newport; The Battle of Newport" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Robinson, Whitney (15 July 2016). "Inside a Newport Estate That Hasn't Changed in Decades". Town & Country. Retrieved 13 September 2018.