Miramar (mansion)

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.

Miramar
Postcard image of Miramar circa 1915
General information
TypePrivate residence
Architectural styleFrench neoclassical
LocationAquidneck Island, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Address646 Bellevue Avenue
Coordinates41°27′30″N 71°18′17″W
Construction started1911
Completed1915
InauguratedAugust 20, 1915
ClientGeorge & Eleanor Elkins Widener
Technical details
Floor count3
Floor area30,000 ft² ( 2.787 m²)
Design and construction
ArchitectHorace Trumbauer
Other designersJacques Gréber (gardens)

History
Exterior view in 1916
The gardens

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.

The building and landscaping were still in the design stage when George Widener and his son Harry died 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.

Owners

In 1956, Miramar was sold by the estate of Eleanor Widener's second husband, Alexander H. Rice Jr, for $118,000,[4][5] and in 2006 it was sold again, for $17.5 million.[6]

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
  4. Times, Special To The New York (24 July 1956). "ALEXANDER RICE, EXPLORER, WAS 80; Physician and Author Dies-- Made Trips on the Amazon and Taught Navigation From Newport to Jungle". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. Gray, Christopher (13 September 2012). "Streetscapes — Whatever Happened to the Fourth Footman?". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. Fabrikant, Geraldine (7 August 2009). "More Sellers of Luxury Homes Turn to Auctions". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
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