The Gilded Age in Newport – The Cliff Walk and Rosecliff

We began our second gilded day with a stroll on the Cliff Walk. In 1975 the path was designated as a national recreation trail which is uniquely situated in a National Historic District of the world famous mansions of the Gilded Age. As a public access walk one can experience the natural beauty of the Newport shoreline with the architectural history of the Gilded Age. The first paths along the Cliff Walk shoreline were likely made by the local deer and then traveled by the Narragansett Indians, followed by the colonials who harvested salvage floating ashore from ship wrecks. The Cliff Walk as we now know began in the 1880s, as estate owners built fences and brick walls to insulate themselves and increase their privacy from people passing by.

The walk runs 3.5 miles and about two-thirds of the walk is in easy walking condition. 
Ochre Court, once a “summer cottage” is now the main administrative building for Salve Regina University.
McAuley Hall, completed in 1883, is also part of the Salve Regina campus.
A curious tree on the Salve Regina campus at the edge of the Cliff Walk.

It was a gorgeous day for this walk along the cliff of Newport. Simply beautiful.

A dog enjoys a game of fetch in the water.
Al, Cindy and Don
A memorial plaque embedded in the rocks for Ryan Patrick Roberts “Gazoo,” a member of the local surf community who died from a rare form of cancer in January 2000 at the age of 25.
This section was designated as a “challenging” rocky part of the Cliff Walk. Not really bad at all. There are often parts of the walk that have collapsed and are temporarily closed for repairs.

We left the Cliff Walk at Marine Avenue and walked to Bellevue Avenue to tour Rosecliff.

IMHO, the exterior of Rosecliff is more pleasing to the eye than The Breakers.
A cherub holding a water-spouting fish in the fountain.
More cherubs across the facade of the front. Each one is different. Cherubs seem to be quite the thing in the Gilded Age.
Rosecliff was built by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair, daughter of James Graham Fair, an Irish immigrant who made an enormous fortune from Nevada’s Comstock silver lode, one of the richest silver finds in history. “Tessie” met Hermann Oelrichs, steamship tyccoon, during a summer in Newport and married him in 1890. Publicly, they seemed to be a devoted couple, but privately, she and Hermann were estranged. He lived in San Francisco on the west coast while she spent her time on the east coast in NYC and Newport. 
  • Construction was from 1899 – 1902. Completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million.
  • Architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of Louis XIV  and his mistress at Versailles. 
  • Considered to be one of the most handsome of Newport’s summer residences of the gilded age. The exterior is snow-white terra cotta.
  • The 65,000 square-foot summer home had 70 rooms, including 22 bedrooms, a hand-decorated, two-story ballroom and immense dining rooms.
  • In 1939, 13 years after Tessie died, the Oelrichs family closed the house. The house and contents were auctioned off in 1941 for $21,000.
  • Rosecliff reopened to the public in September 2023 following an extensive 8-month, $7.4 million renovation.
  • Scenes from several films have been shot at Rosecliff, including “The Great Gatsby,” “True Lies,” “Amistad” and “27 Dresses.” The front facade was shown during Season 1 of HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” but transported by special effects to a street in New York City.
  • You can hold your wedding at Rosecliff……. $$$$$$$$$
The heart-shaped grand staircase is one of the most famous in Newport.
The grand ballroom of Rosecliff was the setting for many of Tessie’s parties including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini.
The dining room at Rosecliff.
Although somewhat more tasteful than The Breakers, Rosecliff is still “over-the-top” when it comes to decor.
Women’s beach wear and a charming nautical dress for the seaside vacation in Newport in the Gilded Age.
The garden arbor along the side of the mansion would be a lovely setting for a wedding.

Back to real life in the 21st century. We really enjoyed our four days in Newport and could have easily spent many more days. But isn’t it better to leave something to look forward to?

We ate a delicious lunch of clam chowder at the Black Pearl. It has always been my favorite clam chowder, between traditional New England chowder and Rhode Island chowder with dill and bacon. 😋
Oh, the hydrangeas!
Group portrait at “The Wave.”

There is never a trip to Newport without a visit to the Seaman’s Institute and my favorite little chapel. I am so glad we renewed our vows there forget 25th wedding anniversary in 2019.

The simple tiny chapel in the Seaman’s Institute.
No surprise to anyone – We found a cute ice cream shop called “Sticks and Cones”.

3 Responses

  1. Prue Preston

    How interesting that you renewed your vows at the Seaman’s Chapel. We always recommend visiting there both for the chapel and the library. Looks like you had excellent weather for your visit.

  2. Ellen Seltzer

    what beautiful pictures…thank you for reminding me how lovely it is there…went in my youth and again in my 50s…loved it both times but i did NOT do the walk…wonder why? wouldn’t do it then and certainly not now…you are a better woman than I. glad you had fun…harry would love the chowder…rhode island chowder (no cream) is his favorite and what’s better than bacon and dill? keep enjoying your sails…it’s fun to live thru you!

    xo

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