Think upkeep at your home runs you ragged? Try maintaining a 159-year-old mansion. Last year, the Preservation Society of Newport County completed a six-year, $2.3 million restoration of the Chateau-sur-Mer on Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Last week, the society accepted an award from the Victorian Society in America, which called the project “an example of the highest standards of historic preservation.”
Society CEO and Executive Director Trudy Coxe recently took time to discuss the project and the award.
PBN: For those unfamiliar with the Chateau-sur-Mer renovation project completed last year can you tell us a little about it?
COXE: Chateau-sur-Mer was the first major stone mansion constructed in Newport, and is regarded as one of the finest examples of high Victorian architecture in America. It was originally built in 1852 by a local contractor for China trade merchant William Shepard Wetmore. The house was later expanded and substantially modified by Richard Morris Hunt, who transformed the initial Italianate style structure into a grand chateau in the Second French Empire style.
Additional interior changes were made by Ogden Codman Jr. of Boston and John Russell Pope. Some other interior design elements, primarily carvings and furniture, were added by Luigi Frullini of Florence, Italy. Landscaping was completed by the Olmsted Brothers firm.
The Preservation Society of Newport County saved Chateau-sur-Mer from an uncertain fate in 1969 and has operated it as a museum ever since. In 2006, Chateau-sur-Mer was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Prior to the restoration, Chateau-sur-Mer was threatened by extensive leaking and water damage. The roof had been patched periodically through the years but had never undergone major preservation and restoration. The project included the removal of decayed membranes and roof deck materials; the replacement of the flat-seam metal roofs and the slate Mansard roofs with suitable, waterproofing underlayments. The project also included the repair of the wooden roof decks; the removal, restoration, and reinstallation of the decorative roof metalwork; the repair of masonry chimneys; the renovation of gutter and drainage systems; the repointing and cleaning of exterior granite ashlar masonry; and the repair and repainting of exterior windows, doors and woodwork.
The $2.3 million restoration was partially funded by grants from The 1772 Foundation, the Brown Foundation Inc., Felicia Fund Inc., Ford Family Foundation, Hope Foundation, National Park Service-Save America’s Treasures, R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, Sachem Foundation, Inc., The Champlin Foundations and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. Visitors to the Newport Mansions also help to fund our preservation projects with their ticket purchases.
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PBN: How did the Victorian Society in America find out about the project and pick it as a winner?
COXE: The Victorian Society in America is a national, nonprofit organization committed to historic preservation, protection, understanding, education and enjoyment of our 19th-century heritage. Its annual Preservation Awards Program honors projects of outstanding merit in the preservation or restoration of significant artifacts of Victorian material culture.
The Victorian Society runs a Newport Summer School every year, bringing scholars, collectors and interested parties to Newport to study the outstanding Victorian architecture here. They are very familiar with Newport’s architecture and with the work being done to preserve it.
PBN: Is this the first award for the Chateau-sur-Mer project? The first award from the Victorian Society in America?
COXE: The Preservation Society received a Preservation Award from the Victorian Society in America in 2001 for its restoration of the Isaac Bell House (1883).
PBN: What does it mean for the preservation society to receive this type of award? Will it play a role in marketing or obtaining future money for renovation projects?
COXE: An award like this can help to draw attention to the preservation society’s maintenance and restoration efforts, and assist in attracting funding to help with our ongoing needs. We constantly have many conservation and restoration projects under way. Our next major project is restoration of the roof at Kingscote (1841) for which the planning and fundraising is already under way. The preservation society is a nonprofit organization, supported by membership and ticket sales, special event rentals, grants and donations.
PBN: Any other mansions up for awards?
COXE: The preservation society has won many awards over the years for restoration work on its houses and landscapes. Most recently, the restoration of the massive iron entrance gates of The Breakers received a Rhody Award in 2010 from the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and Preserve Rhode Island.
The restoration of The Elms Sunken Garden received multiple awards, from the Newport Historical Society, Preserve Rhode Island, and the historical commission. As mentioned earlier, the Issac Bell House restoration won a previous Preservation Award from the Victorian Society in America.
