While on our way to the hotel, Teague took me to visit Blithewold, a 45 room Summer "cottage" owned by the Van Wickle family. The name Blithewold is Old English for Happy Wood. The mansion is filled with family heirlooms and is surrounded by 33 acres of gardens and woodland overlooking Narragansett Bay.
The dining room
Architectural detail of the ceiling
Tea sets, gravy boat, pitcher, and other serving pieces
The table set for luncheon.
Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.
It's really interesting what people thought of for summer cottages back in the day, especially when they had a lot of cash too. The house at least isn't as gigantic as say the Breakers is. Thanks for sharing this visit, as its fun to see other places. Have a great July 4th, I hope you don't have much rain. And Happy T day too. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteThis house is a little more than half the size of the Breakers. The Breakers has 70 rooms. The location for Blithewold was specifically chosen so Van Winkle could park his yacht! Gloomy grey now, but the weather is supposed to clear later today. Happy Fourth and T Day to you
DeleteIt's a beautiful place indeed. Happy T Day, Valerie
ReplyDeleteIt also had the feel of a happy home.
DeleteDon't ya' just LOVE the way they used the word 'cottage'......😳
ReplyDeletethat would make my little house a hovel 😺
DeleteWow what a place. It would be so much fun to explore those 33 acres. Have a great day today.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed roaming through all the gardens
DeleteThose period-piece dining tables set with the fancy china and place settings are always fun when they are on display. Nice to know how the other half used to live.
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Indeed
DeleteWhat a cool summer place they had - looks like a lovely place to visit. Love the setting - so perfect for T-day. Happy T-day, CJ. Hugz
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful spot.
Delete33 acres of gardens. Good gracious. I can't keep up with my small patch.
ReplyDeleteHappy 4th.
Yeah, but they had a team of gardeners to do all the work
DeleteOh-oh. A dangerous place for me... #elephant in China store!
ReplyDeleteImpressive, though, have a happy T-Day!
There was a lot of space to move around. Most of the things were cordoned off so even though you could walk into a room, you couldn't really walk around in it. Very safe.
DeleteIt is an old and beautifull interesting place. Good for stay a few days in holidays in summer.
ReplyDeleteThis would have been a beautiful place to spend the Summer
DeleteStunning architecture and amazing furniture. Tea cups and service area was amazing. Thanks for taking us to Blithewold for T this Tuesday, dear CJ.
ReplyDeleteThey were very lovely
DeleteHmm yes, not quite. In (British) English a cottage is a small humble dwelling. This certainly is not! It is beautiful though and I bet you enjoyed visiting it and seeing all those beautiful things.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late. Tuesday is a busy day for me.
Belated happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
These "cottages" built in Newport at the turn of the 20th century were built by the wealthiest families in the country during America's Golden Age. Compared to their year round palaces in New York, these were for them country cottages.
DeleteWhat a wonderful place to visit! Thanks for showing us. Happy T Day.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing how many of the family heirlooms were kept and displayed
DeleteWOW, that is a NOBLE summer cottage 😍 And very stylish porcelain tableware - perfect for T-Day!
ReplyDeleteWarm July greetings and all the best, Traude