Christmas at the Mansions
If you have ever wished that the Newport Mansions had even more glitz, then Christmas at the Newport Mansions is right for you. How does one deck a great hall that is essentially a 50-foot cube? Any way one wants really, it’s not like the original occupants of The Breakers were in Newport for the winter, although they were sometimes in Palm Beach.
Sure, Palm Beach is nice, but white lights strung around palm tree trunks is NOT Christmas and we all know it. There is no better place to find a traditional New England Christmas than at the Castle Hill Inn. And though it was not in the Vanderbilt family tradition, two of their Newport houses, The Breakers and Marble House, as well as The Elms, will again be decked out in festive attire by the Preservation Society of Newport County this holiday season. From the gilded age Newport Mansions, to the Victorian-era Agassiz mansion at Castle Hill, to the preserved colonial homes of Newport, decorations will enhance the historic charm all over town.
In an effort to outdo the architecture, a 15-foot tall poinsettia tree will adorn the Great Hall of The Breakers – just kidding, it would take more than that to outdo the Italian Renaissance palace-style architecture of the Breakers. The live plants that make up the “tree” are a joyful sight, however, grown and maintained in the greenhouses of the Preservation Society. On the second-floor loggia, model train reproductions of the Vanderbilt family’s New York Central Railroad will delight children and adults of all ages.
The exterior of Marble House will be adorned with a large fresh cut tree strung with white lights to complement those in the French windows. There will be several Christmas trees inside decorated with the inspiration of the room in which they appear. On the second floor, the fireplace mantels will again be competitively decorated by local garden clubs and very seriously judged by certified flower show judges. Speaking of flowers, those will be in abundance too, in exquisite seasonal floral displays.
Christmas memories are waiting to be made at The Elms as well. The beautiful Louis the XV style ballroom will have a woodland theme with a gilded twist – an enormous gilded frame has been set up in front of a standing platform that will serve as the perfect posing spot for holiday photos. If that doesn’t signify Christmas at the Mansions, what does?
The Breakers, The Elms and Marble House are open daily and decorated for the holidays through New Year’s Day, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Visit newportmansions.org for more information.
Castle Hill Inn will be open every day between now and New Year’s Day, if you want to stop by for a Christmas cocktail, or book a holiday lunch or dinner, or indulge in an overnight stay. It’s sure to provide the perfect cure for any holiday blues.
Shea C Nelson