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Belcourt of Newport

• 657 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840

The Belcourt Tour

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Belcourt of Newport

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Belcourt of Newport - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Belcourt of Newport

Newport is a city known for many things: its colonial architecture, its seafood cuisine, the Newport Jazz Festival , America's Cup , and the Tall Ships regatta. But Newport stands out also for its collection of mansions, relics of a previous era of lavish parties and conspicuous consumption. Among these fabled mansions is Belcourt Castle, both famous and infamous for its past and present history. It's been called such things as the "pinnacle of the age of enlightenment" and "the Metropolitan Museum of Newport." Here is one attempt to condense the history of the beautiful and enigmatic Belcourt Castle.

O.H.P. Belmont Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont was born on November 12th, 1858, in New York City to a world of immense privilege. His father, August Belmont , a convert from Judaism to the Episcopalian faith, was a Democratic banker of German ancestry and one of the richest men in the world, having arrived to the United States in 1837 as the American representative for the House of Rothschild . His mother, Caroline Slidell Perry, the daughter of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (who opened trade with Japan in the 1850s), was a member of one of Rhode Island's most esteemed families.

Educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, Oliver Belmont later attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, from which he graduated on June 10th, 1880. Commissioned as a midshipman, he resigned his commission less than a year later on June 1st, 1881.

On December 27th, 1882, he married Sara "Sallie" Swan Whiting at her family's Newport house "Swanhurst." The marriage was troubled from the start; his complaint was that his new mother-in-law and sisters-in-law followed the couple on their European honeymoon tour; she alleged that her husband was addicted to absinth. Mr. Belmont didn't accompany his wife to Swanhurst upon their return. He stayed on in New York and later went to his father's Newport house, Bythesea, and later moved permanently to the Belmont farm "Oakland," in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Midway through 1883, the Belmonts were divorced. The former Mrs. Belmont was with child. A daughter, Natica Caroline Belmont, was born on September 5th, 1883. Seldom allowed to see her, Mr. Belmont consented to Natica's eventual adoption by Sallie's second husband and her name was changed from Belmont to Rives.

August Belmont died on November 24th, 1890. Mr. Belmont, along with his brothers August II and Perry , split the bulk of the Belmont fortune. Oliver's share today would have made him a billionaire. August's widow Caroline died on November 22nd, 1892.

Belcourt Oliver Belmont, as a bachelor, desired a home of his own in Newport, the summer social capital of New York society. After purchasing a lot at Ledge Road and Lakeview Avenue, he engaged architect Richard Morris Hunt to design an enormous Louis XIII-style château (based roughly on the cour d'honneur at Versailles) for his sole personal use. Construction on the structure was underway by 1891 and Newport and New York were abuzz with gossip over the building as it rose over its foundations. Constructed by the George A. Fuller Company, work was complete by 1894 and at a now uncertain cost. Today, the original building costs of most Newport mansions are lost to time or are enormously exaggerated, but it is likely that Belcourt cost upwards of $500,000 to build, an astonishing and princely sum of money in those times. During construction, Mr. Belmont purchased additional lands, including a lot connecting Belcourt to Bellevue Avenue.

Mr. Belmont had the architect incorporate his love of horses into the structure by dedicating most of the first floor to their use. The symmetrical north façade was bookended by two bays, each having an enormous entry portal fitted with glass and iron gates set at the head of each twin carriage ramp connecting to Lakeview Avenue. Behind these gates were parallel carriageways which ran along either side of the north wing's carriage hall and the central courtyard to the south wing's stables.

The stables had stalls for thirty horses, each with a nameplate for Mr. Belmont's favorite horses for when they were brought to the house.

The courtyard was designed in an elaborate brick and half-timbered Elizabeth style, with numerous narrow compound windows set between the timbers. On the second level of the north side was an arcaded loggia.

The vast carriage room had a rose marble mosaic floor below a generously beamed ceiling. Oak wainscoting was fitted between pilasters framing high windows protected from the exterior by elaborate grillwork. On the east and west ends of the carriage room were enormous sliding partitions fitted with glass which opened to the respective carriageways.

Gothic entry doors on Ledge Road opened onto a small foyer and lower grand hall which both had doors connecting to the west carriageway. Windows fitted with hammered green cathedral glass emblazoned with the Belmont coat of arms illuminated the lower grand hall, which had an elaborately carved oak staircase, based on one at the Musée de Cluny , at the south end. The stained glass and overdoor in the foyer were emblazoned with part of the motto adopted by Mr. Belmont, "Sans crainte qui veut peut"—"without fear he who will can."

Mr. Belmont and his guests would ascend the stairs to the second floor bachelor apartments. The upper grand hall was in the style of Francis I, the French Renaissance style. Surrounding the hall, which had an irregular shape, were all of the principal rooms. The shape of the hall was such that a visitor could glimpse into each room around them no matter where they stood in the hall. The walls were covered with French crimson pure silk damask featuring an "OB" monogram interlaced with flowers which included bachelor's button. The wainscoting was of quarter-sawn oak and the overdoors and ceiling were elaborately molded plaster, grained to look like oak. Horses' heads appeared over all the doors.

The dining room was designed in an Adamesque French Empire style as a large ellipse. Corinthian columns were set about its perimeter and supported a richly detailed plaster cornice below a double dome decorated with birds of paradise, roundels depicting the same woman in different moods, as well as a central medallion of Apollo, the sun god, driving his chariot across the sky. The cornice concealed a ring of carbon filament light bulbs, among the first indirect lighting ever installed in a private residence. Enormous mirrors were set between each of the columns, as well as on the doors and the mirrored shutters which could be pulled down over the windows overlooking Ledge Road, Almy Pond, and Bailey's Beach.

The drawing room was in the French Renaissance style and was handsomely detailed with elaborate wainscoting and pure silk damask wall coverings. The ceiling was molded and sculpted plaster grained to look like oak framing transparent Prussian blue oil paintings on gold leafed canvas. The plaster overmantel and overdoors, sculpted and signed by Perrin, depicted scenes of the hunt at Chambord in high relief. The mantelpiece was elaborately carved of a single piece of carved oak.

The ballroom, or baronial hall, was the most magnificent chamber in the house and was masterfully executed in the French Gothic style utilizing plaster and staff made to look like Caen stone. The ceiling was a magnificent double height gothic vault. Arranged across the length of the room on the north side was an arcade of Gothic arched stained glass windows made for Belcourt in France. Each opened to expose a set of French doors, beyond which was a narrow wrought iron balcony overlooking the Lakeview Avenue forecourt, with a railing featuring the "OB" monogram and scallop shells. Above these windows, set in the lower part of the vaulted ceiling, were thirteenth century Gothic stained glass trefoils which had been collected by Mr. Belmont in France.

The west end of the ballroom was semi-octagonal and apse-like with the third floor's organ loft balcony projecting overheard into the room. The organ, installed in 1895, was the first with an Æolian player attached. Doors set into the "apse" led to the upper grand hall and through to the drawing room.

Cabinets made for the display of small arms from Belmont's magnificent collection of armor were placed on the south wall on either side of doors leading to the gallery. The third floor orchestral gallery overlooked the ballroom along this side of the room through voided trefoil tracery of the same dimensions and configuration as the thirteenth century stained glass.

The east end of the room featured a magnificent fireplace with an overmantel modeled after the châteaux of the Loire Valley. Perched between the parapets were various mediaeval characters, including an old man whose face was based on the architect's. On either side of the fireplace were doors leading to the bathroom and to the master bedroom.

Mr. Belmont's bedroom was actually the only bedroom in the house when it was first built (save for servants' quarters in the south wing and the rooms of his six-and-a-half foot tall North African majordomo Azar on the third floor). The bedroom was handsomely decorated in an early Renaissance style with painted canvas in a similar vein to Louis II of Bavaria's Wagnerian fantasy interiors at Neuschwanstein Castle . The walls were painted to look like gathered fabric below a dado with staggered block above. Large faux Caen stone piers bearing dragon-form wall sconces supported a plaster beamed ceiling grained to look like oak with gold leaf and oil paintings. Grisaille stained glass shutters were fitted over the windows, casting gold and silver light across the room during the morning. The fireplace was fitted with a half-conical chimneypiece skirted with salamanders (Francis I of France's personal emblem) and the full personal motto of Mr. Belmont: "Sans crainte qui veut peut."

Through a jib door, Mr. Belmont accessed his private bathroom, which was quite spacious for its purpose. The walls were lined with cream colored rectangular tiles. The floor was carved with marble hexagonal tiles.

This bathroom featured the first shower in all of Newport, fitted over the freestanding porcelain tub, which sprayed from the top and sides. The washstand was carved of marble and stood on silver plated legs. French marble slabs with drains sat below each fixture so that any water overflow would not damage the ceilings of the rooms below.

Beyond the bathroom was a small hall with an oak spiral staircase leading to servants' rooms and closets on the third floor. Off of this hall were the private library-study and the gallery, which ran lengthwise between both the loggia and ballroom and to the upper grand hall.

In 1894, many expected Belcourt to be opened with grand festivities; however, that was not to be. Before he could leave New York for Newport, Mr. Belmont was mugged and required hospitalization. Frail health hampered his recovery. It was not until the next summer that Mr. Belmont arrived at Belcourt for the first time. On September 2nd, 1895, he threw open Belcourt's doors to Newport society with a grand ball, issuing party favors at a then cost of $7,000. Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt acted as co-hostess for the occasion. Belcourt was not to remain a bachelor pad for long. Indeed, it only existed as such for that single social season.

Alva Vanderbilt In late 1893, Mr. Belmont accompanied the William K. Vanderbilts on a yacht trip to India. William K. Vanderbilt was his best friend and an heir to the Vanderbilt railroad and shipping fortune. Mr. Vanderbilt's wife, the former Alva Erskine Smith , had catapulted the Vanderbilts to the highest echelons of New York and Newport society with her social maneuvering. The Vanderbilts were also great patrons of Richard Morris Hunt, having built Marble House in Newport and the Petit Château at 660 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The Vanderbilt marriage was in trouble. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt fought and bickered with one another the entirety of the trip, which broke up in the spring of 1894. In March 1895, the Vanderbilts were divorced. Mrs. Vanderbilt kept Marble House, which had been given to her for her 39th birthday, and received an annuity of $100,000.

Mrs. Vanderbilt, as aforementioned, co-hosted Belcourt's opening ball in September 1895. On January 11th, 1896, Mr. Belmont and Mrs. Vanderbilt were married in a small civil ceremony at her residence conducted by New York City mayor William L. Strong . The honeymoon was spent at Belcourt, which was given to the new Mrs. Belmont as a wedding gift. Renovations commenced almost immediately.

In 1896, Mrs. Belmont had her husband's library-study converted into a bedroom for her in the Louis XV style, slightly reminiscent of her bedroom at Marble House (which was practically shuttered except for use as storage and for its laundry facilities). Since Richard Morris Hunt had died the year previous, she had his son Richard Howland Hunt design a large addition, overlooking the courtyard on the third floor, for her young son Harold Stirling Vanderbilt , who later became a famed yachtsman.

Starting in 1900, Mr. Belmont served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat for a single term. He did not seek re-election. Around this time, he was also the publisher of his own paper called "The Verdict." He advocated for income tax, inheritance tax, public ownership of public works, and the power of the people to veto any law by Congress.

Mr. and Mrs. Belmont summered and entertained lavishly at Belcourt. The New York Times archives recall many extraordinary events such as a dinner party thrown for "Consul," a chimpanzee, in 1907. During their time together, they passionately continued to build, collect, and renovate. In 1907, Mr. Belmont tried unsuccessfully to have the roads separating his Newport estate holdings closed. By the time 1908 rolled around, the Belmonts were planning a renovation of the first floor and had engaged a French architect to turn the former carriage hall, by then used as a banquet hall, into a Louis XIV grand salon. The work was never carried out.

On the ground floor, in the former west carriageway, an English library was installed, with linen-fold oak paneling and molded plaster ceiling copied after the one in the long gallery at Haddon Hall . It is uncertain exactly when or for whom this room was created.

On June 10th, 1908, at the age of 49, Mr. Belmont died at Brookholt, his house in Hempstead on Long Island, following complications from a delayed appendectomy. Bereft, Mrs. Belmont closed Belcourt and placed it on the market. Belcourt did not sell and instead passed within the Belmont family. Marble House was reopened and Mrs. Belmont took on the mantle of the women's suffrage movement, championing the efforts to gain the right to vote for women everywhere. She later moved to France, where she died aged 80. The Belmonts are interred together in a magnificent neo-Renaissance funerary chapel and mausoleum at Woodlawn , in the Bronx.

The last Belmonts at Belcourt Perry Belmont, the late Oliver Belmont's brother, a congressman and diplomat, bought Belcourt from Alva Belmont in 1916. He and his wife, Jessie, whom he married five hours after her divorce from Henry T. Sloane in 1899, summered there for a few years and made some changes to the house. Further research will yield answers but it is presently uncertain whether the Oliver Belmonts or the Perry Belmonts were responsible for the changes to the staircase, the enlarging of the lower grand hall into the adjoining carriage way, or the construction of the ground floor library. The house passed back to Alva Belmont at one point and she owned it at her death, whereupon she willed it to her grandnephew-in-law, August Belmont IV .

Barely in his twenties, August IV found Belcourt to be a financial burden and sold it back to his granduncle, Perry Belmont, the last Belmont to own Belcourt. Perry Belmont sold the estate in 1940 to George Waterman and partners, describing the estate as a "white elephant." The estate was sold on the condition that as many of Alva Belmont's changes as possible were undone. This included the removal of the addition built for her son, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, on the third floor facing the courtyard and also the auctioning of most of her furnishings. For this, Waterman paid $1,000 for Belcourt, which he planned to turn into a museum for automobiles. Indeed, it existed for a short time as the "Belcourt Museum" before closing down. Perry Belmont died aged 95 in 1947.

Belcourt sold approximately three years later to Edward Dunn. Unoccupied for years, the navy used the stables for truck repairs. It was then again sold in 1954 for $22,500 to Louis and Elaine Lorillard, who used it as a venue for events of the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955. Zoning would not allow the Lorillards to continue the activities at Belcourt. The house was slated for demolition and narrowly escaped destruction on November 25th, 1956, when the Harold B. Tinney family purchased the estate and seven of its original acres.

The Tinneys The Tinneys, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, made their fortune in real estate and the restoration and dealing of antiques and art. Harold B. Tinney was a skilled carpenter and craftsman. His wife, the former Ruth Betzer, was an adept painter. Their son, Donald, began collecting antiques at the age of nine with the purchase of an English chair. Eventually, their entire colonial house and barn were filled floor to ceiling with European art and antiques. The Tinneys, along with Mrs. Tinney's maiden aunt Nellie Fuller, looked toward Newport for a larger house and purchased Seaverge, past Belcourt on the turn of Bellevue Avenue, which they restored and furnished. Requiring still even more space, they purchased Belcourt from the Lorillards for $25,000 and sold Seaverge, which was demolished soon after. Belcourt became their repository for seventeen moving vans and over a hundred station wagon loads full of antiques. Visiting for the first time, a building inspector said, "You know, Mr. Tinney, you can't make a storage warehouse out of this place."

The Tinneys, after receiving requests from friends and the City of Newport, opened Belcourt to the public in 1957 for guided tours and gave most of the tours themselves. In 1960, nineteen-year-old Harle Hanson, of Providence, was hired as a guide. In December of that year, she married Donald Tinney. Donald and Harle Tinney had a formal wedding ceremony and reception in the ballroom of Belcourt in August 1961.

The Tinneys renamed the house "Belcourt Castle" and continued to add to their collections, which soon grew to encompass pieces from over thirty countries and with furniture dating back to the tenth century. Belcourt Castle soon earned a reputation as one of the finest historic museum houses in the country. In addition to offering tours, the Tinneys also lent the house out for municipal and charitable events, even hosting the Eisenhowers on a trip to Newport, which was reciprocated with an invitation to the White House and led to a correspondence between Ruth Tinney and Mamie Eisenhower .

They were not only restorers and collectors but also artisans. Among their numerous creations were a golden coronation coach (based off of an eighteenth century Portuguese original) as well as the stone balustrade and entry gates to Belcourt Castle on Bellevue Avenue. For many years, the Tinneys ran St. Luke's Studio out of the former stable and produced magnificent stained glass which can be found throughout Rhode Island and the rest of New England.

Nellie "Aunt Nell" Fuller died aged 90 in 1972, having gifted her share of Belcourt Castle to her grandniece-in-law, Harle Tinney. Harold B. Tinney, the patriarch of the family, died aged 89 in 1989 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. With his death, the Tinney family faced the problem of an uncertain future for Belcourt, with only three members of the family remaining. In 1990, Ruth Tinney adopted 38-year-old Kevin Koellisch, the long-time live-in general manager.

When the elder Mrs. Tinney died aged 89 in 1995, Kevin initiated legal proceedings to have Belcourt Castle sold and the proceeds divided among himself, Donald Tinney, and Harle Tinney. After many court hearings over several years, and coverage on 48 Hours , Dateline , and City Confidential , his claims were dismissed as he was found to have unduly influenced Ruth into adopting him. Kevin was ordered to vacate Belcourt and the deed granting him a share of the estate was invalidated.

Donald and Harle Tinney continued to live at Belcourt Castle, celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary there in December 2005. Donald, who was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease himself, unexpectedly died aged 71 on January 16th, 2006. Aged 64 and a widow, Mrs. Tinney resolved to carry on her family's work, alone, continuing the effort to conserve Belcourt for future generations. Although she listed the house for sale in May 2009, Mrs. Tinney remained at Belcourt Castle for nearly seven years following her husband's death.

In November 2012, it was announced that Belcourt Castle had been sold to Carolyn Rafaelian , the founder of Rhode Island-based jewelry company Alex and Ani . Since then and as of this writing, Ms. Rafaelian has been conducting a careful and thorough restoration of the house, now again simply called "Belcourt." Retained are Tinney additions such as the courtyard gates (salvaged from a demolished house called "Whiteholme"), the gates and balustrade on Bellevue Avenue, the Seaverge sea dragon weathervane atop the south wing cupola and clock, as well as the enormous imperial crystal chandelier hanging in the banquet hall.

Built for the horses, standing witness to a shocking divorce and remarriage in the late nineteenth century, enduring a brief stint as a car museum and jazz festival site, and then again serving as a home and museum for an entrepreneurial family with a passion for the arts, Belcourt is a renegade among the houses of Newport, the "anti-mansion mansion" of Bellevue Avenue. It is fitting that its latest custodian is a self-made business mogul with a passion for Rhode Island and its heritage.

Tours : Belcourt of Newport is open for tours. Check their website for times and tickets.

Directions : From Route 195 in Massachusetts take exit 8 to Route 24 west; follow Route 24 to Route 138; follow Route 138 to Route 138A (Aquidneck Avenue); Aquidneck Avenue becomes Memorial Boulevard; turn left onto Bellevue Avenue; Belcourt Castle is toward the end, on the right, at the corner of Bellevue and Lakeview Avenues.

Charles von Hamm is an architectural designer, restoration consultant, and historian presently based in Ottawa. He has a keen interest in the American Gilded Age, its social history, as well as its contributing influences from European architecture, antiques, and art, having made a study of these wide-ranging subjects from an early age.

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Belcourt of Newport

Review Highlights

“ Belcourt Castle sends chills down the spine as you view the haunted artifacts! ” in 4 reviews

“ Belcourt is an really special house amoung the Newport Mansions . ” in 2 reviews

“ Tinney herself who lived in the castle. ” in 2 reviews

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657 Bellevue Ave

Newport, RI 02840

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I finally made it to Belcourt Castle. It was closed for a long time for renovations after it was sold but they are now open for tours again. Our guide was great and I really enjoyed the tour. It is not the most impressive mansion on the block but they all have their own charm.

See all photos from Jessica S. for Belcourt of Newport

Great tour of Belcourt today. Our tour guide Eric has been with the Co. since Carolyn bought this beautiful building. His insight into the history of the building and it's previous owners is a big part of the tour. This is a hands on guided tour with plenty of interaction and Q & A time. The castle itself is loaded with craftsmanship from its inception to the current restoration that is ongoing. Plenty parking onsite out front and a great deal for only $20.00.

This review was a little late visited last year read about the story online and saw some older pictures.. the front of the house looked very interesting so we decided to take the tour it was $20 per person and quite frankly it was disappointing some of the architecture is still there however the current owner was the Alex and Ani bracelet founder. We were told by tour guide she does not like furniture from that time period that belongs in the house and as she does use the house for her personal use she has furnished it with art deco and other odd things like gas pumps shlitz signs etc. Some of the rooms were not available to go into the tour was very short and very disappointing.

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting, online it says it's a haunted tour, but after we paid my tour guide didn't talk about it being haunted, the tour was mostly about the renovations and where they put half of the things that used to belong in the house. It is a beautiful mansion and if you would rather hear about renovations than ghosts, this is perfect for you, It was a little disappointing to me.

Newly open on the Newport Mansion Tours - though, not a part of it. 35.00USD for two adults. No store. Limited parking. No snacks or water either. Guided tours on the hour. The lady that owns this place owns Alex and Annie jewelry. They heard the feedback and are amping up their game. French Chateau style mansion. Pretty. Slightly feminine touch. Strikes me as another place that will rent for any event. Worth a go if they honor and recognize the Newport Mansion Tour pass. Otherwise skip.

I highly recommend a tour of this mansion. The guide has so much information to share , from the reconstruction to the lives of the past and present owners. He was open to any questions asked. I can't say enough, how much we enjoyed this tour!

What a wonderful tour! I am glad we had an actual person and not a headset! I am happy to this building get saved and is being restored. With its own parking lot, friendly staff and a cool house, what else could you ask for? Go and support!

Very beautiful home, interesting story. Not as glamorous as the breakers. Guided tour instead of headsets, I though this would be more enjoyable as it feels more personal, however our guide Mariaet was rude at times, snappy when asked questions. Did not seem as if she wanted us there. I hope to go back once all the renovations are complete but will definitely ask for a different tour guide.

I don't know about you, but when I'm in Newport, I look for ghosts. Not really. But on a recent trip, desperate for activity, I stumbled across the wonder that is Belcourt Castle. Yet as my boyfriend quipped, "It's not so much a castle, as it is a manse." Still, the place is devastatingly large, and for $18 bucks a pop it better be a spectacle. Belcourt is a museum and a working residence for the very rich Tinney family. Mrs. Tinney introduced the place to our tour group--we were seated in a theatre style area with a slide projector. The lights went dark. She explained how she'd come to Belcourt by marrying her late husband whose parents had bought this place at the turn of the century. Widow Tinney was unflappable and called in an elderly woman by the name of Virginia Smith who claimed to be "sensitive" to spirits. I won't give everything away, but from the slide show, and this woman's tales, she could sense a ghost at a roadside Burger King on the Mass Pike. She lost a bit of credibility by the sheer outrageousness of her stories, not to mention these women were clad in black velvet and brocade. It was all very Stevie Nicks meets King Arthur. The antiques and artwork are the true highlights. No ghostly activity occurred though, to date, 17 ghosts are reported to haunt the place, so says Ginny Smith. One includes a monk, who haunts one of the antiques at the castle. According to Widow Tinney he's a "traveling monk" -- he haunts many destinations worldwide -- and is seen sporadically in long dark garb, most often on the 7th day of March. I don't know about all that. Apparently, one of the ghosts prefers to show himself to "brown-haired teenage girls." The grand hall is the most haunted room of the castle. There's an impressive line-up of old knight's armor, one of the suits is said to be haunted. There's also centuries old "salt chairs" -- where people of that time stored salt, because it was so valuable. According to the women, the chairs have "thrown people across the room" -- but, if you move your hand slowly down to the seat of the chairs, you can feel "the energy" they radiate. I did it, and did feel something, but I'm not sure if it wasn't just the impression of her expecting such a sensation from us, or if these chairs really are unique. The place is worth visiting, over all. If anything it's interesting. One warning: these women love to talk, and you'll find yourself keeling over from boredom at times. And instead of letting you explore like you'll want to, they move you from room to room, with snarling teenage ushers to annoy the hell out of you. Belcourt does offer a "champagne tour" where you can get drunk and move freely around. This, of course, is more money. The place has a lot of history, and it seems like it would be haunted but Widow Tinney and Ginny Smith, with their flair for the dramatic, make it more over-the-top than believable. If they took it down a bit and allowed visitors more freedom, this would be a top-notch destination.

We returned with a group last weekend on a haunted tour of the Belcourt Castle. I absolutely loved it. It's amazing that someone still lives in this castle! The tour was only $18.00 and even though I didn't see any ghosts, I must say I was in awe of this place. This place actually still has the original silk wallpaper. The detail in the woodwork alone had me walking around with drool hanging from my mouth..at one point it actually looked like I had actually seen a ghost. There were two tour guides the night I went. The first one showed you a slide show and she was an older woman and she really got into her role of the "haunted" part. She would try and spook the kids and it ws really funny. She looked at one of the kids at one the many stories she was telling and right in the middle of this horrific stories she asked one of the younger boys: "Michael, do you know what a cadaver is?".. It was awesome!..He looked like a deer in headlights..he was so scared. I'm sure he didn't sleep very much that night! The other tour guide was actually Mrs. Tinney herself who lived in the castle. Which I thought was pretty amazing she actually takes time out of her own life to show the place..I think I'd get sick of walking around this place again and again..But..I definitely would pay to do this again..Definitely take the time to see this. It was worth it..Just to see the rooms and the work put into this place is amazing!

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BELCOURT CASTLE

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Ghosts Be Gone

By Penelope Green

• Sept. 18, 2013

NEWPORT, R.I. — The house formerly known as Belcourt Castle now has a Twitter account, a Facebook page and an American flag planted on its meticulously restored Pennsylvania slate roof. Gone are the sidewalk placards announcing the ghost and murder-mystery tours. These are some of the most visible signs that the once-derelict, nearly 40,000-square-foot folly designed by Richard Morris Hunt is under new management.

One blustery afternoon, water gushed from a sump pump deep in Belcourt’s bowels while its contractor, Joe Triangelo, sunburned and dusty but wearing a proud smile, interrupted his inspection of the reinforced front doorway and its 500-pound oak doors to sweep up a scattering of wood shavings. (Belcourt may be the tidiest construction site in town.)

“Here’s a funny thing,” Mr. Triangelo said. “If Carolyn hasn’t been here for a few weeks, I get nervous.”

It was almost a year ago that Carolyn Rafaelian, the 46-year-old founder of Alex and Ani, a rapidly growing, wildly successful New Age jewelry line (think bangles with inspirational charms, now sported by Olympic athletes, the Dalai Lama and millions of teenage girls), and a daughter of Cranston, R.I., bought the house for $3.6 million. It was a rather low price, except when you consider how many millions of dollars may be required to rehabilitate it.

“My dream was to own a Newport mansion: that’s what I always wrote in the comment books,” she said, recalling how she would tour the houses here when she was a student at the University of Rhode Island. Ms. Rafaelian, who is now divorced, was married at Beechwood, another former tour property. “Be careful what you wish for,” she said. “But Joe was my insurance. He gave me the confidence.”

When embarking on a renovation, it’s always nice to have a good relationship with a contractor. Mr. Triangelo, 49, and Ms. Rafaelian fell in love three years ago, locking eyes in a Providence, R.I., restaurant.

“This is the coolest thing,” Mr. Triangelo said. “Carolyn was just a regular gal then.”

In 2010, the year he and Ms. Rafaelian met, her company, which she had named for two of her three daughters and had started in a corner of her father’s costume jewelry plant in Cranston six years earlier, recorded revenues of $4.6 million. Last year, that figure had swelled to more than $79 million. Ms. Rafaelian credits her new chief executive, Giovanni Feroce, a former military officer and combat veteran whom she met at a college reunion.

This year, the company is projecting revenues of $200 million, and Ms. Rafaelian aims to turn Alex and Ani into a lifestyle brand, with candles, home goods and furniture, and is looking for all sorts of brand synergies. In 2012, she opened a string of cafes called Tea and Java. And late last year, a month after closing on Belcourt, she bought Sakonnet Vineyards, a winery in Little Compton, R.I.

Her plan for Belcourt, which she has renamed Belcourt of Newport , is to open it next summer as a tour house, art gallery and event space. She has already begun using it as a backdrop for her advertising. There has been talk of a reality TV series as well, she said.

Neighbors are wary but supportive, said Robert Beaver, a chairman of the Bellevue Ochre Point Neighborhood Association.

“Our No. 1 concern is that it not be a function hall,” he said.

He described a local zoning scenario that allowed properties like Belcourt, which is zoned as a museum, to operate under certain grandfathered rights, which in Belcourt’s case include 12 events a year, each of which has to be approved by the City Council.

There has been tension over the house’s use in the past, as in the infamous no-underwear party of 1999, whose 800-plus guests, according to news reports, were required to attend commando-style.

Ms. Rafaelian’s stewardship marks a new chapter in Belcourt’s somewhat bizarre history. The house was built in the last half of the 19th century for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, the son of the financier August Belmont and an eccentric who apparently really loved his horses (some sources note he liked to dress them up, changing their costumes several times a day). It was designed in the style of a French hunting lodge and emblazoned with much hunting insignia.

Among the home’s many peculiarities was the first floor, which was mostly given over to the animals, whose stables and carriages were housed there. Upstairs, Mr. Belmont’s bedroom opened onto a ballroom with an enormous pipe organ that loomed over it (and still does).

Not long after the house was finished, he fell in love with his neighbor (and friend’s wife), Alva Vanderbilt, who was living in the Marble House, her own Richard Morris Hunt confection up the street. After divorcing her husband to marry Mr. Belmont, she moved into Belcourt and cleaned up his bachelor pad by adding a library and her own bedroom, and moving the horses out of the main living areas.

Mr. Belmont died in 1908 of an infection following appendicitis, and subsequent owners struggled with the place. In 1940, an entrepreneur bought it for $1,000, hoping to turn it into an auto museum, only to discover that zoning would not allow that. At midcentury, Belcourt was briefly the home of the Newport Jazz Festival, until the neighbors revolted.

In 1956, it was bought by Harold and Ruth Tinney for $25,000 and renamed Belcourt Castle. They moved in with their son, Donald, and began to fill it with the contents of other once-grand Newport homes, many of which would be demolished over the next few decades.

Belcourt became a sort of Gilded Age pastiche embellished with the fragments of lost houses, like a fantastical seahorse weather vane that is still planted on the stable roof, as well as the Tinneys’ own decorative flourishes, which tended toward garish gilding and stained-glass work. Donald even made a gilded carriage, which looks like a Disney fantasy in photographs. The Tinneys led tours and rented the place out for parties. (See “no underwear,” above.)

In the late 1990s, Belcourt was the scene of a much-publicized family feud as a plumber-turned-handyman named Kevin Koellisch, who had insinuated himself into the affections of Ruth Tinney, sued Donald and his wife, Harle, for a third of the house’s value.

Be Careful What You Wish For

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Harold Tinney had died in 1989, and a year later, Ruth had adopted Mr. Koellisch and added his name to the property’s deed. After her death in 1995, Mr. Koellisch, who had started to call himself Kevin Tinney, began his suit against his “family.” All the parties in the suit were living in the house, albeit in separate quarters, along with several Rottweilers, according to news reports. It took nearly four years of litigation for the Tinneys to evict Mr. Koellisch, whom the justices of the State Supreme Court colorfully described as “a libertine and a bounder of sorts.”

Lawsuits are expensive, even if you win, and Belcourt’s financial health, which was never robust, grew precarious, said Kate Leonard, a member of the City Council and a broker at Lila Delman Real Estate in Newport.

Donald Tinney died in 2006, and his wife seemed to wrestle with the care of the place, said Ms. Leonard, who had the listing last year.

“The Tinneys had tried to be good stewards,” she said. “But the court case wiped out their funds, and thus there was no money to keep the house in good shape.”

When Ms. Rafaelian heard the property was for sale, she and Mr. Triangelo drove to Newport and took one of Harle Tinney’s ghost tours.

“It turned out it was her wedding anniversary, and I gave her a bracelet,” Ms. Rafaelian said. “Later that week, I got a letter from her. We started a dialogue. She said, ‘I felt you were Alva reincarnated’ and that the house belonged to me. She was very excited, and very quickly this happened.”

Ms. Rafaelian has houses in Palm Beach, Fla.; Providence and Jamestown, R.I., as well as a condo in TriBeCa. She will not be moving into Belcourt, which disappointed Mr. Triangelo, who had his eye on the large apartment carved out of the servants’ quarters upstairs.

The Belcourt rehab is the latest in a string of renovations by deep-pocketed owners of some of Bellevue Avenue’s most complicated properties. In 2010, Larry Ellison of Oracle bought Beechwood, an Astor estate that, like Belcourt, had struggled as a tour house, for $10.5 million; he plans to turn it into an art museum.

In 2006, David Ford, a retired Goldman Sachs partner, bought Miramar, a stone colossus designed to resemble a French chateau, at auction, and has been meticulously restoring it as a private residence.

But of all those houses, Belcourt may have been the biggest mess. And it was filled to its rafters, said Shahin Barzin, Ms. Rafaelian’s architect.

“There were layers of things attached to the walls on pilasters,” he said. “Fluted, fake columns all over the place painted in gold and gaudy colors. Downstairs was dark and gloomy and covered with all kinds of religious icons. It was like a beautiful woman with very bad makeup.”

There were drainage and mold issues. The slate roof was shot. Mr. Triangelo said they found all sorts of intriguing treasures, but no ghosts. “Carolyn is trying to distance herself from all that fodder,” he said.

Still, Ms. Rafaelian added: “There were energies and entities, some not pleasant. I had a shaman perform ceremonies. We did a major cleansing, energy-wise. There was a lot of heaviness, but we took care of that. Now the house has a different vibration.”

She estimated that she has already spent about $5 million since Mr. Triangelo started work last winter. The restoration of the roof alone cost $3 million. Soon, solar panels will be installed and a geothermal climate-control system is planned, said Mr. Barzin, who had the entire building laser-scanned to produce an accurate set of architectural drawings. That will allow him to make “incredibly accurate molds for reproduction” of the damaged ornamental plasterwork, he said.

On a recent tour of the place, dehumidifiers were still humming in every room, but the scaffolding was gone and the facade (stucco on brick) was picture-perfect. You are going to beat Larry Ellison, a reporter told Mr. Triangelo.

“Ellison’s got nothing on me,” Mr. Triangelo said. “Except a few billion dollars.”

The thing about houses, he continued, “is they can always be fixed. It’s just a matter of money.”

Echoing Mr. Barzin, he added: “This one was like a neglected and abused woman. We’ve given her attention and love, and slowly but surely she’s a new woman.”

Mr. Triangelo opened a bottle of Rhode Island Red, a selection from Ms. Rafaelian’s new vineyard, and poured her a glass. “I want to say that Carolyn is my angel, and that’s where I come from,” he said. “Everything I do here is because of that. Carolyn has taught me that you can put your mind to something and just do it.”

Ms. Rafaelian said: “He calls Belcourt his mistress, and I couldn’t be happier that he has one, and she’s my best friend. It’s pure love that’s driving this.”

He grinned at her. “I’m ‘Sans Crainte’ baby,” he said, referring to Belcourt’s motto, which translates as “Without Fear” and can be found in crests throughout the house. “Failure is not an option.”

Then he led Ms. Rafaelian through the house, showing off the week’s work (that reinforced front doorway, the freshly varnished loggia), and out onto a balcony. Below, a couple looked up from their power walk and called out, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

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One Of The Most Haunted Mansions In Rhode Island, Belcourt Castle, Has Been Around Since 1891

Melissa Mahoney

I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!

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The story of Belcourt Castle began in 1891 when construction on what would be Oliver Belmont’s summer bachelor pad began. Finished in 1894, it was set as a getaway for him and his horses. The same architect who designed Marble House and The Breakers was hired to create the masterpiece. In 1896, Mr. Belmont fell in love with the recently divorced Alva Vanderbilt who added her own touches and sense of refinement to the stately manor after they married.

The house remained in the Belmont family until 1940 when it was then purchased by a Mr. George Waterman. It was sold again in 1954 to Elaine and Louis Lorillard, then again in 1956 to Harle and Donald Tinney, who lived at Belcourt for 56 years, collecting antiquities for the home from all around the globe. In 2012, it was purchased by the owner of jewelry company Alex & Ani, Carolyn Rafaelian, who has been restoring the home to its former glory.

For decades, there have been other residents discovered at Belcourt Castle but these particular residents are not among the living.

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Have you experienced any ghostly activity while on a Belcourt Castle tour? If so, we would love to hear about it!

For more information on the history and to see photos, visit Belcourt Castle’s website or Facebook page .

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

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