Chetwode (Newport, Rhode Island)

USA / Rhode Island / Newport / Newport, Rhode Island / Bellevue Avenue
 place with historical importance, cottage, estate (manor / mansion land), demolished, interesting place
A limestone-clad brick Louis XIV style château, Chetwode was built for Mrs. William Storrs Wells (née Annie Raynor) of New York by the Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer. With formal landscaping by Achille Duchene of Paris and opulent interior reception rooms by Allard & Sons, decorators, of Paris and New York, Chetwode became one of the most lavish villas ever erected in Newport.

Occupied by Mrs. Wells until the 1930 season, the estate was then leased to A.J. Drexel Biddle Jr., for three years, and then sold, furnished, on January 23, 1934 to John Jacob Astor III for $150,000. The estate comprised a garage-stable block, gardener’s cottage, greenhouse, five acres of formal gardens, and grounds extending beyond Coggeshall Avenue to Carroll Avenue. The twenty-one year old Astor heir had just come of age and was soon to marry Miss Ellen Tuck French. Doris Duke Cromwell later sublet Chetwode for the 1937 season.

During the morning of January 29, 1972, a chimney fire spread through the three floors of the villa causing devastating damage. Much of the French paneling and several mantels are known to have been salvaged and are today dispersed between shops, restaurants, and private collections in Newport, Boston, New Jersey, and Paris. Chetwode, one of the chief glories of Newport, was razed in May of 1973.

Robert Yarnall Richie aerial photo ca. 1932-1934 - digitalcollections.smu.edu/u?/ryr,404
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   41°28'6"N   71°18'30"W

Comments

  • The NE corner of the property (SW corner of Bellevue and Victoria) was the site of F.M. Freeman's "Tower Top", built before 1876.
  • I grew up in the gardeners cottage. I remember the fire as if it were yesterday.
This article was last modified 7 years ago