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During the Gilded Age of the
19th century, wealthy residents of the Atlantic Coast
and New York in particular came to while away the
summers in Newport. Eventually, they started building
large homes along the coastline to accommodate themselves
and their many guests. These mansions have now become
as much a symbol of Newport as its jazz festival.
Between the homes and the Rhode Island Sound is a
path that was used since the Narragansett Indians
occupied the land, it has since become known as the
Newport Cliff Walk. Owners of the mansions have consistently
tried to block the path in the name of privacy, but
access is guaranteed in the Rhode Island Constitution
that grants residents fishing rights and access to
the shore. Though not over-publicized, the path has
become a tourist draw but has suffered badly from
poor maintenance and hurricanes.
Unsure of what to expect, we
contemplated just wearing some tennis shoes for the
three and half mile walk. Our reasoning was that with
a constant flow of tourists along the path during
the summer, how bad could it be? Ultimately, we opted
for hiking boots which turned out to be a prudent
decision. Parking was relatively easy near the northern
end of the walk, and it began as a well-preserved
path with a line of tourists filing in both directions.
The path soon deteriorated to walking over large,
sharp rocks along the beach. This turned out to be
a mixed blessing, because most of the tourists turned
back.
On a nice breezy sunny day
as we had, the mansions are stunning sights. They
are a mixture of architecture, and many have long
histories in which we weren’t particularly interested.
There are some that stand out however. Perhaps the
most famous of them all is the 70 room Breakers, built
by the Vanderbilts in 1893 and modeled after an Italian
villa. John Jacob Astor IV was married at his home,
the Beechwood, in 1911 but unfortunately became recognized
as the wealthiest passenger to die on the Titanic
as he was returning from his honeymoon. Another famed
mansion is Rosecliff which was used as the setting
for the filming of Redford’s the Great Gatsby,
Schwarzenegger’s True Lies, and Spielberg’s
Amistad. Salve Regina College claims two of
the nicer mansions as part of its campus – the French
Gothic Ochre Court and the red-stone Vineland. Clarendon
Court Manor made film appearances in High Society
and the Philadelphia Story, but is most famous
as being the scene of the crime in the Claus von Bulow
case. Another Vanderbilt construction was the 105
room Roughpoint which eventually came into the possession
of Doris Duke, a 13 year-old girl who inherited $80
million.
Upon completion of our small
journey and navigating the parade of horse-drawn carriages
(and what they left behind), we treated ourselves
to a nice seafood dinner overlooking the harbor in
downtown Newport. On the whole, a fine way to spend
a Sunday in New England.
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We had to wait for them to get
out of the way so we could cross.
Salve Regina College's Ochre
Court.
Vineland.
Fences - to keep us out or keep
them in?
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