Have you started planning your summer travel yet?

Although I’ve blogged about visiting castles and chateaus abroad, one of the biggest treasure troves of opulent, awe-inspiring mansions is right in our very own backyard.
 
These opulent Gilded Age mansions are nestled in the North shore of Long Island and Newport. This historic concentration of mansions has become known as “the Gold Coast.”

The Gold Coast is home to 11 mansions that were built during the late 19th century (from the 1870s to about 1900) for industrialists such as Carnegie-Mellon, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, and more.

These mega mansions are what inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write, “The Great Gatsby.” What a classic!

So let’s take a walk down millionaire’s row where every house is more stunning than the last.

Are you ready?

Here is the famous 65,000 square foot “Breakers” home built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II.

Seriously swoon-worthy, right?

I love this grand sweeping staircase, how about you?

I love the French paneling in this room – such a classic design statement.

Again, another incredibly designed French inspired room – wow!

The incredible attention to detail, symmetry of the space and gorgeous rich colors is truly exquisite.

When I need to get inspired, I love getting ideas from these luxurious spaces and bringing in a touch of old and new into my projects. I love getting inspired by classic French moldings, colors and textile patterns.

Can you imagine mixing in antique art and furniture like this room with a pop of mid-century or modern furnishings?

Let’s move on to our next mansion: The Elms. This lavish estate was the summer home of coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind.

The gold details, chandeliers and incredible artwork are almost other-worldy.

I know this room is totally period, but how stylish is that beautiful gray color on the paneled walls?
 

Next up: Chateau-sur-mer.

This is one of the first mansions built from the Gilded Age. (How gorgeous is that blue?) I love the nod back to classic French architecture.
 
Each one of these elegant homes were built by following classic principles of architecture and design.

What I love about these home is we still tap into many of these classical elements such as painted paneling, French antiques, aubusson rugs, beautiful chintz inspired patterns, gilt and even more. What’s fun is how we mix these up with our modern day interiors!

Want to plan a visit?

These “Gold Coast” homes are now owned by The Preservation Society of Newport County and are available to the general public to visit.

So what do you think? Have you been to any of these? Would you want to go? Leave a comment and let us know!

I hope you enjoyed this blog, I know it was a bit of a history lesson but you can learn a lot about where you want to go when you study the past!

Tweetable: “To know your future, you must understand your past”

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Till next time!

With love,