Preview
Date
May 1990
Description
Designed by McKim, Meade and White, particularly Stanford White, Rosecliff was built strictly as a summer residence for Tessie and Herman Oelrich. The money used to finance the construction of Rosecliff came from her father, James Graham Fair, one of three partners that owned the Comstock Silver Lode in Nevada. Over a 20 year period, 500 million dollars worth of silver was produced from their mines. Stanford White's inspiration for Rosecliff was the Grand Trianon at Versailles. The brick walls were finished in off-white terra cotta tiles, creating a sense of lightness and grace. Mrs. Oelrich loved the color white. It reflected her obsession with cleanliness. Her instructions to her staff included changing the beds daily whether or not guests used the beds
Rights
This object from the Chester E. Smolski photographic slides and publications, housed by the Rhode Island College Special Collections, and any of its digital surrogates are the intellectual property of Rhode Island College. This digital object is protected by copyright and/or related rights. The digital material presented here is licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This content can be used, shared, or adapted for educational and scholarly purposes. For permissions to use this item please contact digitalcommons@ric.edu. All uses must include appropriate attribution.
Creator 1 Role
Photographer
Creator 2 Role
Architect
Creator 3 Role
Designers
Recommended Citation
Chester E. Smolski photographic slides and publications, MSS-0041, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Recommended Citation
Chester E. Smolski photographic slides and publications, MSS-0041, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
Keywords
Rosecliff; mansions; Newport; architecture;
Notes
Bibliography: Yarnall, James L. "Newport through Its Architecture : A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern." Newport, R.I.: Salve Regina University Press in association with University Press of New England, Hanover and London, 2005. p.155-156