Astors' Beechwood Mansion
About
Built in 1851 for New York merchant Daniel Parrish by architects Andrew Jackson Downing and Calvert Vaux, it later became the summer estate of the Astor family. Before moving in, Mrs Astor hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to do many renovations including the addition of a ballroom to fit the famous "The Four Hundred". Beechwood became the show place for many of Mrs. Astor's dinner parties. Beechwood also boasts a library, dining room and a music room with wallpaper imported from Paris. When Mrs. Astor died she left it to her son John Jacob Astor IV, who married his second wife Madeleine in its ballroom. After John's death on the Titanic in 1912, it passed to his widow Madeleine, who turned the entire third floor into her own personal walk-in closet. After she died it was turned into Newport's only living history museum[1] and featured actors portraying the daily lives of those who inhabited, ran and cared for the estate. While run as a tourist attraction, the estate was marketed as Astors' Beechwood Mansion
