Inside Chateau-sur-Mer, an Italianate-style villa known for its extravagant parties during the Gilded Age

The Wetmores hired Richard Morris Hunt, the same architect who later worked on Vanderbilt estates in Newport, to restructure and redecorate their home while they traveled through Europe.

Chateau-sur-Mer was the earliest Newport mansion to host lavish parties such as debutante balls and a Fête Champêtre picnic for 2,000 guests. It remained Newport’s most extravagant residence until the Vanderbilts built homes such as The Breakers and Marble House in the 1890s.

A French sculptor named Émile Guillemin created the bronze statues on either side of the staircase, and the painting on the stairway depicts the biblical Tree of Life.

“What we have here is a perfect example of how no surface would go untouched by an artistic hand,” Leslie Jones, the director of museum affairs and chief curator at the Preservation Society, said in the audio tour. “So it really is an example of how this house is a work of art itself.”

The stairwell also appeared as part of Mamie Fish’s house in New York City in HBO’s “The Gilded Age.”

The bookshelf on the right side of the room was a secret door that opened up into the Morning Room. The Morning Room once housed a billiard table, but is now used for checking in visitors.

George and Edith Wetmore held their daughters’ debutante balls in this room. George’s sister Annie also held her wedding there.

George Wetmore’s daughters, Edith and Maude Wetmore, helped found the Preservation Society of Newport County and hosted its first meeting in the Green Salon in 1945.

The carving depicts Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and frivolity, surrounded by mythical creatures.

The Pantry also contained a dumbwaiter that transported food up from the basement kitchen to be plated and served.

Chateau-sur-Mer spanned three stories, plus service areas in the basement which are closed to the public while they undergo preservation work.

After inheriting Chateau-sur-Mer in 1862, George Wetmore commissioned new bedroom furniture in 1869 from Marcotte, the interior designer who furnished the Ballroom.

George Wetmore’s wedding gift to his sister and her new husband was a piece of Chateau-sur-Mer’s land, where they built a home. The property, known as William Watts Sherman house, is now a dorm for Newport’s Salve Regina University.

The hallway didn’t have any windows since it was located in the middle of the house.

His daughters, Edith and Maude, left his room exactly as it was as a tribute to their father.

The slipper chairs at the foot of the bed were constructed low to the ground to make it easier for women wearing corsets to change their shoes.

The Wetmores planted European weeping beech, London plane, Japanese maples, and Sargent’s weeping hemlock trees in their arboretum.

While many Newport “cottages” were only occupied for a few weeks each year, Chateau-sur-Mer was the primary residence of the Wetmore family for three generations. It’s a smaller, humbler residence than the Vanderbilt estates, but its exceptional architecture and history make it a worthwhile stop along Newport’s famous Bellevue Avenue.