Halidon Hall - Isaac Hartshorn House / Estate (ca. 1854) (Newport, Rhode Island)

 place with historical importance, estate (manor / mansion land)

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Halidon Hall, the Isaac Hartshorn House / Estate (ca 1854; Alexander MacGregor, builder):

A large and monumental stone L-plan, steeply pitched complex-hip-and-cross-gable-roof Gothic Revival house with extensive porches, glazed on the north and west and enclosed on the south; large wooden bay windows on the east elevation, hood moulds over the windows, large dormers above the 1st story and small dormers near the crest of the roof, 2 channeled chimneys near the main block’s crest of the roof and 1 chimney in the service ell to the southwest of the main block, and balustraded L-plan deck atop the main block.

Hartshorn (1804-1877) was a physician and surgeon who turned to rubber manufacturing in his mid-30s; no doubt the income he enjoyed as an “India Rubber Man” made possible the construction of this house. His wife, Eliza Gardiner (1832-1916), continued to live on this property for many years after her husband’s death, in later years at Bluebird Cottage (see 145 Wellington Avenue), then part of this property .


In 1894, Arthur Livingston Mason and wife Edith Bucklin Hartshorn Mason took up residence at Halidon Hall, according to the youngest of the eight children, Lion Gardiner Mason. Mason published his memoirs -- A Lion's Share -- on his 87th birthday, Oct. 5, 1983.

The Mason family had several claims to fame. Arthur Livingston Mason owned the Newport Engineering Works, an automobile and marine business, and was narrowly defeated in the Newport mayoral race of 1898 by Patrick Boyle, losing by only 198 votes. His wife Edith organized the R.I. Sanitary and Relief Association during the Spanish-American War and was responsible for two inventions designed to help wounded soldiers -- a lamp shade that shielded patients' eyes from light while leaving the bulb exposed on one side to aid the surgeons, and a flannel abdominal bandage called the "Mason band."

When Lion Mason was a boy, he played with neighbor John Nicholas Brown -- said to have been the richest baby in the world -- who lived in Harbour Court, also on Halidon Hill. Mason told of his adventures when he visited Halidon Hill sometime in the early 1980s, stopping by the former teahouse to visit with owners Dr. Thomas and Joan Haufe.

"He always had a body guard along who spoiled all of our fun," Mason told the Haufes, who bought Aerie Cottage around 1974.

During the Haufes' time here, the main house has changed hands several times. In the '60s and '70s, it belonged to the Cowsill family, the rock group who had eight bubblegums hits -- including Indian Lake and Hair -- and inspired the television series The Partridge Family. In 1987, it was bought by former Rep. Fernand J. St. Germain.

bapresley.com/silverthreads/halidon/halidonhall.html

also -

NEWPORT, R. I., April 1912 -The will of Lorillard Spencer, who died in New York last month, was filed for probate to-day, and disposes of a large estate, including his handsome cottage here, Halidon Hall, and properties in New York.

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/will-lorillard-spencer.ht...

www.cardcow.com/127515/residence-lorillard-spencer-newp...