Rosecliff Mansion
Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899,
architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden
retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at
Rosecliff
Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI
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a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments
here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry
Houdini. "Tessie", as she was known to her friends, was born in
Virginia City, Nevada. Her father, James Graham Fair, was a n Irish immigrant
who made an enormous fortune from Nevada's Comstock silver lode, one of the
richest silver finds in history.During a summer in Newport, Theresa met Hermann
Oelrichs playing tennis at the Newport Casino. They were married in 1890. A year
later, they purchased the property known as Rosecliff from the estate of
historian and diplomat George Bancroft. An amateur horticulturist, it was
Bancroft who developed the American Beauty Rose. The Oelrichs later bought
additional property along Bellevue Avenue and commissioned Stanford White to
replace the original house with the mansion that became the setting
for many of Newport's most lavish parties. The mansion is now preserved through
the generosity of its last private owners, Mr. And Mrs. J. Edgar Monroe, of New
Orleans. They gave the house, its furnishings, and an endowment to the
Preservation Society in 1971. Scenes from several films have been shot on
location at Rosecliff, including High Society, The Great Gatsby, True Lies
and Amistad.
