Reviews and ratings about some of the most exciting Newport Mansions in
Newport RI.
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(4.5)
A
must see, and it should be the first one you visit because
it all started there!
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| Astors' Beechwood Mansion
One of Newport's oldest, oceanfront summer "cottages", Astors' Beechwood Mansion was originally built in 1851 for a New York merchant, Daniel Parish. The Italianate-style mansion was destroyed by fire in 1855 and two years later, a replica was constructed on the property closer to the Atlantic Ocean frontage. Real estate mogul William Backhouse Astor, Jr., the grandson of John Jacob Astor, purchased the mansion in 1890 as an anniversary gift for his wife, Caroline. More commonly referred to as "The Mrs. Astor", the undisputed Queen of American Society, Caroline hired architect Richard Morris Hunt and spent two million dollars renovating Beechwood into a place worthy of America's highest society. Although Mrs. Astor only spent two months of the summer at Beechwood, she packed them full of social activities, including her renowned "Summer Ball". For 25 years during the Gilded Age, Astors' Beechwood Mansion was the center of American Society, with Caroline reigning as its Queen. She was the creator of the first American social register, "The 400", a list of 213 families and individuals whose lineage could be traced back at least three generations, and was the mother of John Jacob Astor, IV, the richest man to perish on the RMS Titanic.
This is the only "cottage" among the Newport mansions that provides a living history tour. The cast of The Beechwood Theatre Company takes on the roles of servants, guests and members of the Astor family in the year 1891 (or 1920s on Tuesdays). You are guided through the home by the cast as if you were a guest coming to call on the Astor family. Through interaction with the actors, a wealth of information on the dress, customs, activities, class structure and opulence of the era is shared in an intimate and interesting format. Once you enter the mansion, you have stepped back in time and it is virtually impossible to get the actors out of character. You are guided through most of the rooms on the first floor, including the kitchen, in which there is always something cooking. The tour continues upstairs and includes some of the bedrooms and portions of the servant's quarters. The tour ends in one of the most unique gift shops among the Newport mansions, with several period selections consistent with the presentation. This is the only one of the Newport mansions that allows photographs while on tour.
There is so much social history surrounding Beechwood and the living history format is so unique, we consider this a "must see" among the Newport mansions. Although the mansion is not as large or impressive as some of the later ones, we suggest you begin your mansion journey at Beechwood, pick up on the social history, and then march through time at the other mansions experiencing the obvious attempt by their owners to continually "out do" the neighbors. We found the theatrical cast to be knowledgeable and very entertaining. We interacted, in some way, with seven different characters during our tour through the house, giving us several different perspectives on life in those times. Some actors were more interesting than others, but there is no risk here of being stuck with one boring guide for an hour. We found the information to be much more digestible in this format rather than being fed information from a scripted guide. The actors also seemed to make a special effort to include the children on the tour by sharing some fun facts about how children are "expected" to behave. A special treat was having some of Mrs. Astor's staff actually cooking in the kitchen. It filled the house with wonderful aromas and added significantly to the feeling that you really were living the experience.
Customer reviews for Astors' Beechwood Mansion Avg. Customer Review (4.7 Stars):  Number of Reviews: 49 Email a friend about the Astors' Beechwood Mansion.  Write an online review and share your thoughts with others.
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