Summer 2024 Get Away (Part 3)

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This week I’m focusing on the last leg of our vacation in Newport, Rhode Island.

The Entrance to the Breakers

We were only in Newport for a little over 24 hrs. Our first stop The Breakers. We enjoyed lunch at the Breakers Cafe before we went onto the mansion. I downloaded the Newport Mansions App. so I could listen to the audio guide and after our visit I’ve been able to relive a wonderful experience. I highly recommend. These images are of the Great Hall from the first floor including a look outside at the Loggia, the fountain behind the grand stairs and views from the second floor including the the tapestry and skylight.

These images are of the Dining Room, The Music Room (which was used as the Russell’s Ball Room in the HBO series The Gilded Age) and the Library.

Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchenyi’s Bedroom and Bath on the second floor.

Images of the Upper Loggia on the second floor.

Here we are in the basement you see the Butlers pantry and kitchen.

We wandered the grounds and then we did a portion of the Cliff Walk.

We were staying near Bannister’s Wharf and after our visit to the Breakers and getting settled at our hotel we walked over and did some shopping and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Clark Cook House.

Clark Cook House

After our wonderful dinner and the purchase of a sweatshirt for my son we walked across the street to Queen Anne’s Square, Trinity Church and wandered around enjoying the architecture.

On our last day we had tickets for The Elms Servant Life Tour which was very interesting but I wish we’d also thought to add tickets to tour the mansion. After which we made our way in the rain to the International Tennis Hall of Fame before a delectable late lunch at The Mooring and heading home.

The Elms

Service Entrance

The Elms was built by Edward J. Berwind a coal baron. Mr. Berwind - loved technology and The Elms was one the first homes to be wired for electricity in 1901. It was powered with coal of course. Mr. Berwind liked things hidden from view. A tunnel from Dixon Street brings coal directly into the basement unseen by anyone inside the mansion. The service entrance is also hidden by massive trellis work and plantings to ensure from the interior of the home the view of the entrance is blocked. If anyone looks out a window they just see foliage.

And that’s where we started our tour. We were led down the servants stairwell to the basement - the thing you will see is a huge amount of light from windows flooding the stairwell with light and the walls are covered in white subway tiles to reflect that light. (Even though the home was wired light bulbs only illuminated at 7watts.) Mr. Berwind did all this to benefit his staff and keep the turn over of employees low. In July 1902 though the staff complained about working 18 hrs a day 7 days a week to Mrs. Berwind and she directed them to her husband who dismissed every member of staff - sending them all back to NYC. A full new staff was employed in a day.

Upstairs on the third floor there was a sky light with glass blocks in the floor to allow that light to travel down to the second floor. The servant bell system had several different bells that chimed and based on the sound the servant knew if they needed to attend the family. The Bathtub for the servants was the same style used throughout the mansion. We saw an example of a servants room and at one end of the hallway there is a access door to the roof for the servants to enjoy. You can see from the street the area is completely hidden from view. The last image is of the Berwind’s NYC mansion that still stands on the corner of 64th Street and Fifth Avenue.

We ended our tour in the basement. We saw the laundry, storage area, coal line, an ice chest Mr. Berwind helped design to keep ice at the plenty, the boilers and power plant of the mansion, the pantry and kitchen. Part of the kitchen is used as the Russell’s servants diningroom in the HBO series The Gilded Age. Then it was off to Gift Shop.

I purchased a guide book and an ornament.

I wished it hadn’t been pouring while we were at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It was really interesting and great to see so many tennis players from the last 100 + years of the game. The HBO series The Gilded Age also films here.

We arrived a bit early for our reservation at The Mooring - no matter we sat at the bar and all enjoyed a beverage - my glass of Sancerre was yummy! I saved my last meal to enjoy a Lobster Roll and it was worth the wait.

I can’t wait to visit Newport again! The mansions, the food, the history - all were a delight. Til next time be well and I’ll see you over on Instagram.

Don’t Miss Part 1 and Part 2 of our Trip.

Summer 2024 Get Away (Part 2)

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This week I’m focusing on the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston, MA. We visited Monday August 5th - during the Boston leg of our vacation. The museum is closed on Tuesday.

ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER 1888

The Museum was the passion project of Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924).

In 1891 Isabella inherited $1.75 million upon her father’s death and with those funds began collecting art on a larger scale.

Her purchase in 1892 at auction of Johannes Vermeer's The Concert was her first major acquisition. After acquiring Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait, Age 23 in 1896, Isabella and her husband Jack L. Gardner decided their collection needed more space than their home and began thinking about a museum.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, Age 23, 1629

After her husband’s death from a stroke in 1898, Isabella purchased land in the marshy Fenway area of Boston and hired architect Willard T. Sears to build Fenway Court in the style of a 15th century Venetian palace - specifically Palazzo Barbaro where the Gardners stayed while in Venice. It was built between 1898-1901. Isabella was deeply involved in every aspect of the design, leading Sears say that he was merely the structural engineer making her design possible. There is a story of Isabella climbing a ladder to show workers the texture and color of finish she wanted for the walls.

The building comprises 3 floors of galleries for visitors around a central courtyard. Mrs. Gardner used the 4th floor as a private residence. It is not open to the public.

Isabella spent a year installing her collection mixing art, furniture, objects, sculpture and textiles from different cultures and time periods. As you read further you will see images of the map visitors are given - there are no name plates by the art. To me the museum feels very much like a home. Very Maximalist! Opening day was January 1, 1903 with a performance by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a menu that included champagne and doughnuts.

Fenway Court as the museum was originally known  during Isabella Stewart Gardner's life.

She was a supporter of artists. Here you see her friend John Singer Sargent, the first artist in residence using the Gothic room to paint Mrs. Warren and her daughter Rachel in 1903.

Isabella continued to grow the collection thorough her lifetime. When she died in 1924, her will created an endowment of $1 million and outlined stipulations for the support of the museum, including the charge that her collection be permanently exhibited "for the education and enjoyment of the public forever" according to her aesthetic vision and intent. Meaning - the collection can not be altered.

In January 2012 the New Wing encompassing the entrance added over 70,000 square feet to the existing Fenway Court. The addition connects to the existing building by way of a breezeway.

The map highlights selected pieces in the collection

Yellow Room - First Floor

Art in the Yellow Room  - Top Right is  The Terrace, Saint-Tropez Henri Matisse 1904

The Roman Tower, Andernach, J.M.W. Turner 1817

The Macknight Room - First Floor

Short Gallery the Second Floor

Before I share the Dutch Room with it’s empty frames - some of you may be familiar with the museum because of the theft of 13 works that happened March 18, 1990. Six of the pieces were from the Dutch Room.

It’s both fascinating and horrific. These pieces have yet to be recovered and the Museum is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the recovery of the stolen works.

6 Paintings. 5 Works On Paper. 2 Objects.

Dutch Room - Second Floor

This empty frame is what remains of Christ In The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee the only seascape by Rembrandt van Rijn.

This empty frame held the painting Landscape With Obelisk by Govaert Flinck 1638.

There is a small empty frame attached to the side of the cabinet which held Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man by Rembrandt van Rijn underneath his Self-Portrait, Age 23, 1629 the other work here is A Man In A Fur Coat by Albrecht Dürer, 1521.

Titian Room - Third Floor

So lovely with the sun streaming in.

Chapel - Third Floor

Soisson stained glass window in the

Gothic Room - Third Floor

There are Moravian Tiles on the floor in this space in addition to being on the floor in the Dutch Room, Long Gallery, and the Tapestry Room. The museum has spent over a decade cleaning and adding a protectant to theses tiles to conserve them.

I adding this small book to the permanent collection here at the Chalet.

The museum is exquisite with endless treasures and I could have spent countless hours wandering around. I highly recommend a visit. But, after a few hours we made our way outside and hopped on the T and made our way to Boyleston Street and our next adventure.

When we returned from vacation we re-watched This Is A Robbery the 2021 Netflix documentary and I listened to the 2018 podcast Last Seen - the website has a companion story.

And just yesterday I picked up the 2024 book Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner and the 2005 DVD STOLEN from my local library. I am a bit obsessed at the moment friends! ha

Next week I’ll share our visit to Newport, Rhode Island. Til next time be well friends and I’ll see you over on Instagram!