After Boston, we stopped at Cape Cod for a night - where we stayed at our most expensive campground yet at $91US for a no frills site - then continued on to Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is known for its sailing history (Drew’s heart was racing at all the fibreglass he saw!) and monstrous mansions (my heart raced at all the beautiful architecture and landscaping - not to mention the amazing ocean views!). I’m pretty sure the town was built on a pile of money.
One mansion of note was The Breakers. Built by Cornelius Vanderbilt between 1893 and 1895 as a summer “cottage”, it is considered one of the most prominent of the Gilded Age mansions in Newport.
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| The Grand Staircase |
With 70 rooms sprawled over 138,300 square feet, marble imported from Italy and Africa, rare wood and mosaics from countries around the world, and architectural features removed from a 16th-century chateaux in France, the mansion is opulent with a capital O.
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| The fireplace is from a 16th Century chateau in France |
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| Who wouldn't want a marble bathtub? |
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| The kitchen is bigger than our entire condo! |
The Breakers was built at a cost of $7 million in 1895 - that would be about $220 million by today’s rates. There are some countries in the world that have a GDP less than that.
At $29US per person, our tickets to view the mansion and its gardens (and the privilege to visit the gift shop and drop more cash) fit the rich theme, but I guess someone has to pay the electricity bill, and it was quite fun to see how the rich and famous live.
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