Miramar (mansion)

Miramar

Postcard image of Miramar circa 1915
General information
Type Private residence
Architectural style French neoclassical
Location Aquidneck Island, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Address 646 Bellevue Avenue
Coordinates 41°27′30″N 71°18′17″W / 41.458285°N 71.304767°W / 41.458285; -71.304767Coordinates: 41°27′30″N 71°18′17″W / 41.458285°N 71.304767°W / 41.458285; -71.304767
Construction started 1911
Completed 1915
Inaugurated August 20, 1915
Client George & Eleanor Elkins Widener
Technical details
Floor count 3
Floor area 30,000 ft² ( 2.787 m²)
Design and construction
Architect Horace Trumbauer
Other designers Jacques Gréber (gardens)

Miramar is a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) French neoclassical-style mansion on 7.8 acres (32,000 m2) bordering Bellevue Avenue on Aquidneck Island at Newport, Rhode Island. Overlooking Rhode Island Sound, it was intended as a summer home for the George D. Widener family of Philadelphia. It was designed by Horace Trumbauer, who had earlier designed the nearby Edward Julius Berwind property, The Elms; the gardens were created by Jacques Gréber.

1916

The building and landscaping were still in the design stage when George Widener and his son Harry lost their lives aboard the RMS Titanic.[1] His widow, Eleanor Elkins Widener, who was rescued in a lifeboat from the Titanic, completed the project and construction was undertaken during 1913 and 1914 and opened to friends with a large reception on August 20, 1915.[2]

The 27-bedroom, 14-bath mansion has a 27' × 63' Grand Salon/ballroom on the first floor which opens onto a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) oceanfront terrace. Among its other features, the mansion has a 10,000-bottle wine cellar with a 20-ft (6 m) stone basin for icing up to 200 bottles of champagne at once.[3] The property features includes a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) carriage house and gardens with a bronze fountain designed by French sculptor Henri-Léon Gréber, father of the landscape designer.

In 1956 Miramar was sold by the estate of Eleanor Widener's second husband, Alexander H. Rice's estate for $118,000, and in 2006 it was sold again, for $17.5 million.

References

  1. ↑ Boston Globe - October 1, 2006
  2. ↑ New York Times - August 21, 1915 article titled "Mrs. G. D. Widener Opens New Villa"
  3. ↑ Bloomberg News - November 10, 2006
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