Sunnyside (Newport, Rhode Island)

 house, place with historical importance, cottage, mansion / manor house / villa

According to the Newport Map of 1876, the house was completed prior to 1876.
It was built by McKim, Mead & White.

Roman buff brick estate was built for William Edgar (1810-1892), who was Commodore of the New York Yacht Club from 1855-1858.

The following description of this house appeared in Artistic Country Seats Volume III:
"Commodore William Edgar's House
Although disclosing some affinity with the colonial style, this house can scarcely be classed as colonial. It was finished in [bef.]1885, and the architects are Messrs. McKim, Mead, and White. Built of a narrow, speckled, unpainted brick, of a buff color, somewhat like that of the Tiffany house, on Madison Avenue, New York, with shingled roof, brick chimneys, two stories and an attic. Commodore Edgar's house is one of the most recent and attractive private residences at Newport. The porch is of wood, and some of the trimmings are of light sandstone. The dimensions are: length, one hundred and seventeen feet; depth, sixty feet four inches. A grass terrace on the principal front--which is shown in our illustration--approaches the balustrade of light sandstone, and the central part of the principal facade is recessed, the main entrance being in the center of the recess, while at either side are two projections, one a round bay and the other an octagonal bay. We note also the recessed fountain, with its stone basin and canopy of stone, on the left of the octagonal bay. The situation is about two hundred feet from Beach Street, and one end of the house fronts on a lane. The grounds are principally in the rear, with trees and a highly cultivated lawn, but no view of the water from the first floor. On the end fronting the lane are the kitchen and servants' wing, with an entrance from the sidewalk, and, on the opposite end, a large circular bay of the drawing-room, and steps up to the piazza from the lawn. The piazza winds around the library, which opens upon it; immediately over the drawing-room bay is a loggia; and the rear or south side of the building has a long piazza-porch, and a small projection which forms part of the dining-room. On the roof is a deck, with a very light balustrade. Many dormers appear, and the very large drawing-room chimney, which shows its entire length. Either side of the main roof is a plank with a huge chimney-stack, each of which is perforated with an open arch. The cost of Commodore Edgar's house was about fifty thousand dollars. (cont. at link)

www.historic-structures.com/ri/newport/edgar_house.php

www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20ri0046&fi=...