Rough Point is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It is an English Manorial style home designed by architectural firm Peabody & Stearns for Frederick William Vanderbilt[1] Construction on the red sandstone and granite[2] began in 1887 and completed 1892. It is located on Bellevue Avenue and borders the Cliff Walk and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. The gardens were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm.[3]
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In 1894, the Vanderbilts began renting Rough Point to summer guests. William Bateman Leeds Senior, known as the ‘Tinplate King’, rented the home in 1904 and 1905. He was one of the owners of American Tin Plate Company, a tin plate trust. He purchased the 10-acre (40,000 m2) estate in 1906. After he died in 1910, his wife, Nancy Leeds {later re-married, this time as Prince Christopher's first wife, whereby—during that onset of political flux for the Greek pretenders—she became HRH Princess Anastasia of Greece; her son, by her first marriage (to Leeds), was introduced to and thereafter married (her now niece) the Princess Xenia}, used John Russell Pope to make some exterior alterations to the home. She remained the owner until 1922. Their son, William Bateman Leeds, Jr., married Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russia.
In 1922, James Buchanan Duke, the founder of fortunes in electric power and tobacco, and benefactor of Duke University, and his second wife Nanaline bought the house.[4] They used Architect Horace Trumbauer to assist in renovating the house; two new wings were added to the home[5]. Nanaline hired design firm White Allom to transformed the home's dark interiors[6]. James died at his Fifth Avenue and 78th Street, New York City, white limestone, mansion in 1925, bequeathing his enormous fortune, along with its several residences, to his only child, 12-year-old Doris Duke[4]. Rough Point, which came close to being sold twice, at Nanaline's insistence, nonetheless, eventually became one of Doris' most prized properties, replete with its spectacular rocky coastal setting. Doris's memorable debutante ball was held at the estate in 1929.
Mrs. Duke continued to spend her summers at Rough Point; but, after the New England Hurricane of 1938 that devastated Rhode Island, and with the advent of World War II, Mrs. Duke’s visits became less frequent. In the early 1950s, Mrs. Duke took up permanent residence in New York City and emptied Rough Point of all its furnishings.[6]
In 1962, after Nanaline's death, Doris Duke once again became a frequent visitor to Newport and turned her attention to refurnishing Rough Point. In 1958 and 1959 she began purchasing art and antiques for the house and combined these new pieces with family treasures. Rough Point was reopened in 1962 and, over the years, became one of Miss Duke’s favorite residences; she lived there May through November most years and continued to collect items for the house during her wide-ranging travels.[6]
In 1966, the most controversial event in Duke's entire life occurred at the estate. She and her interior designer Eduardo Tirella were leaving Rough Point by a station wagon. When Tirella left the car to open the front gates to the estate, Duke slid over to the driver's seat to pull the car out of the gates and wait for Tirella to close them again. Accidentally accelerating the station wagon, Duke caught Tirella with the car and dragged him across the street where he was crushed against a tree, instantly killing him. Duke was not charged with murder and Tirella's death was recorded as an accident.
During Hurricane Bob in 1991, the house's solarium served as a shelter for Princess and Baby [7], Duke's two pet Bactrian camels. The camels were gifts from billionaire Saudi arms-dealer and businessman Adnan Khashoggi.[8] The camels summered in Newport when Duke was in residence. She would often buy them peanut butter cookies in large quantities as treats. Baby was the more vicious of the two, often sneaking up and chasing the security guards around the estate at night, biting them if she got close enough.
Rough Point is different from most of Newport's other mansions. Cottages such as The Breakers and Rosecliff have been uninhabited by socialites for nearly sixty years and when toured appear austere and museum-like. Rough Point was home to a living socialite well into the nineties; the house maintains a clever mixture of grandeur and hominess that others lack. The house has been preserved in time, nothing removed or added since the death of Duke in 1993. The architectural significance of Rough Point can be attributed to Trumbauer's ability to renovate and enlarge the original structure in a seamless manner.[9] Doris was one of several remaining Gilded Age socialite heiresses in Newport. While under the ownership of Doris Duke, the house was filled with hundreds of priceless antiques, while the drapes on her bed were bought at JC Penney[7]. Paintings in the home include Gainsborough, Van Dyck, and Renoir.
During Miss Duke's stays, staff at Rough Point would pick vegetables daily for use in the cooking. Vegetables and flowers were shipped from the greenhouses at Duke Farms in New Jersey each spring to be planted, she said. A historical plant list of what was at Rough Point includes artichoke, squash, cabbage, lettuce, onions, peppers, spinach, eggplant, beans, okra and cucumbers. The list of herbs is long, too, including basil, chamomile, chives, dill, fennel, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, spearmint, tarragon, borage, which is valued for its cool cucumber aroma and flavor and lovage which looks like extra large celery leaves.[10]
The property remained with Duke until her death in 1993. It was tied up in litigation for a few years and opened to the public in 2000. It is currently owned by the Newport Restoration Foundation. Tours are limited to 12 people each occurring from May until November. Since 2003, an exhibit has been in place, being either clothing, jewellry, silver, or furniture, changing each year. The estate also lacks a gift shop, as put by Duke "they were in bad taste," one will never be located on the property
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