England has Buckingham Palace, France has Versailles, Germany has Neuschwanstein Castle, Russia has Mikhailovsky Castle and America has the Breakers, Rosecliff, Rough Point and the other “Summer Cottages” of the Industrial Barons of the 1800s.

The Breakers, home of Cornelius Vanderbilt, was begun in 1893 and is a 70-room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin.  Rosecliff was modeled after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. The home of Doris Duke, Rough Point, with 115 rooms, was designed in an English manorial style, built with the intent of evoking the feel of an English country house.  Besides the mansion the property consists of Prescott Farm, which allows visitors to see how early settlers on Aquidneck Island lived in the late 1700 and early 1800s. Homes like these were able to be built since there wasn’t any income tax in the USA.  I also doubt if you would be able to find the craftsmen to do the intricate work that is so amazing.

Rosecliff has the most amazing sweetheart staircase that was featured in the “Great Gadsby.”  I have visited both the Breakers and Rosecliff and was in awe of the beautiful woodwork, staircases and crystal chandeliers.  However, my thoughts turned to , “could you imagine sneaking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night or seating in the living room in jeans and sneakers.”  This just one of the tales from the Taste and Tales of Coastal New England.

The Taste and Tales of Coastal New England and A Taste of Lobster and some tales too can be found at the Newport Mansions Stores, located at The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms, Rosecliff, and on Bannister’s Wharf in downtown Newport.