'Newport Villas: The Revival Styles, 1885 – 1935' at Ventfort Hall
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Whereas Lenox was subtitled during the Gilded Age as “The Inland Newport”, Newport, itself, was labeled “The Queen of Resorts." At its peak in the Gilded Age, the Rhode Island town on Narragansett Bay was a fabulous array of fashion, opulence and revelry. Here wealthy American aristocrats, made prosperous from the Industrial Revolution, would escape the summer heat and grime of urban centers. Such leading social figures as Goelet, Vanderbilt (more than one), Morgan, Belmont, Hutton, Fish, Berwind, Oelrichs and Fahnestock commissioned the country's most prominent architects to design and build the most sophisticated and magnificent “cottages” that seemingly unlimited money could purchase.
Using plentiful archival and new photographs taken from his book, Kathrens will show some 35 mansions, covering the gamut of revival styles from Italian Renaissance and Colonial Revival to French Neoclassic and English Manor. Richard Morris Hunt, Carrere & Hastings, John Russell Pope, Horace Trumbauer, Ogden Codman Jr., Charles Adam Platt, Warren & Wetmore, Delano & Aldrich, Peabody & Stearns and McKim, Mead & White are some of the brilliant architects whose Newport work Kathrens will feature.
Kathrens is an independent scholar specializing in American residential architecture and interior decoration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For more than 35 years he has shared accumulated knowledge in his books, lectures and walking tours. His book, "American Splendor: The Residential Architecture of Horace Trumbauer," was the first extensive work devoted to this major Philadelphia architect. Kathrens also documented important urban houses in "The Great Houses of New York: 1880 – 1930." He is currently researching the work of Ogden Codman Jr. for a book focusing on his major houses.
Tickets for the Kathrens lecture and tea are $14 per person for members and $16 for members. Reservations are highly recommended as seating is limited. For information or reservations call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206 or email info@gildedage.org. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St.

