Vernon Court
Encyclopedia
Vernon Court is a Gilded Age
mansion, located at 492 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
, on the Atlantic
coast of the United States
. Its design is an adaptation of an 18th century French château
, Château d'Haroué
.
to be used as a summer cottage for the young widow of Richard A. Gambrill of Peapack, NJ and New York (1848–1890), Anna Van Nest Gambrill (1865–1927). Mrs Gambrill hired her florists, the firm of Wadley & Smythe, as landscape architects for the property.
The property remained in the Gambrill family until 1956, when it was auctioned. From 1963 until its closing in 1972, it served as the administration building for Vernon Court Junior College, an all girls school. Over the next two and a half decades it passed through several different owners. In 1998, Vernon Court was acquired by Laurence and Judy Cutler, founders of the National Museum of American Illustration
.
The mansion currently houses the museum's collections of American illustration; as the Gilded Age
architecture is contemporaneous with the "Golden Age of American Illustration" theme on which the collection focuses.
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
mansion, located at 492 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, on the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its design is an adaptation of an 18th century French château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
, Château d'Haroué
Château d'Haroué
The château de Craon, also known as the château d'Haroué or palais d'Haroué is a French château located in a small valley in the centre of the village of Haroué, in the Saintois, in the département of Meurthe-et-Moselle and the région of Lorraine...
.
History
Vernon Court was constructed in 1898 by Carrère and HastingsCarrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
to be used as a summer cottage for the young widow of Richard A. Gambrill of Peapack, NJ and New York (1848–1890), Anna Van Nest Gambrill (1865–1927). Mrs Gambrill hired her florists, the firm of Wadley & Smythe, as landscape architects for the property.
The property remained in the Gambrill family until 1956, when it was auctioned. From 1963 until its closing in 1972, it served as the administration building for Vernon Court Junior College, an all girls school. Over the next two and a half decades it passed through several different owners. In 1998, Vernon Court was acquired by Laurence and Judy Cutler, founders of the National Museum of American Illustration
National Museum of American Illustration
The National Museum of American Illustration , founded in 1998, is the first national museum to be devoted exclusively to American illustration artwork....
.
The mansion currently houses the museum's collections of American illustration; as the Gilded Age
Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
architecture is contemporaneous with the "Golden Age of American Illustration" theme on which the collection focuses.