“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:37
You may remember taking a road trip with us early last fall to New England…Boston, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. Ring a bell? After Butch carefully planned our itinerary, I realized how close we would be to Newport, RI…so I suggested we add a couple of extra days to see what it was all about! He was so sweet to agree, and we made our way over! Being the history buff that I am, I had read and been somewhat fascinated by the Gilded Age, a time in American history that saw rapid economic growth. A couple of visits to the Biltmore and a trip to Hearst Castle had piqued my interest in this era of American history. Newport was the summer playground for the wealthiest industrialists who built opulent mansions facing the sea. So of course, I had to see what this was all about We toured three of the mansions, and with Valentine’s Day on my mind, I am sharing the most romantic of all, Rosecliff. Put on your walking shoes and be ready to take in all of the eye candy!
Rosecliff was built between 1898-1902 by Nevada silver heiress, Theresa “Tessie”Fair Oelrichs and her husband, Hermann Oelrichs who was wealthy in his own right. They purchased the land in 1891 from George Bancroft, an amateur horticulturist who developed the American Beauty Rose. The flamboyant architect, Stanford White modeled the mansion after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. In 1902 upon Rosecliff’s completion, it was reported to have cost $2.5 million.
The architect created an exquisite house clad in gleaming white terra-cotta tiles delicately adorned with cascades of flowers and musical instruments.
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