In the first season of HBO Max’s Emmy-winning The Gilded Age, the women of the Van Rhijn family discuss the invitation of social climber Bertha Russell to an upcoming party in Newport, Rhode Island. “She’s muscling into New York. She was bound to jam her foot in the door of Newport,” says matriarch Agnes van Rhijn, underscoring the first-class status the coastal New England city granted to those who were accepted into its social scene.
During the Gilded Age—a period of American history from about 1870 to 1900, marked by explosive growth in industry and technology, and the extravagance of those who profited off its working class—Newport was the summer playground for the 1 percent. New York’s business tycoons and robber barons one-upped each other with larger and larger “cottages,” sprawling oceanfront mansions that sprouted along Bellevue Avenue and Ocean Drive. Summering in Newport wasn’t a vacation; it was a marketing ploy, a way to stay at the top of the most elite circles.
Mansions of the Preservation Society of Newport County are included in this article. The Chinese Tea House, Newport Historical Society, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport International Polo Series, Newport Classic Cruises, Newport Jaguar Tours, Green Animals Topiary Gardens, and Newport Cliff Walk are also mentioned. Along with Stoneacre Picnics, Bellevue Boards, Cru Cafe, Breakers Cafe, Castle Hill Inn, The Vanderbilt, and Cliffside Inn.
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