A 23-acre Newport, R. I., property with a granite home and other out buildings called the "Wild Moor" estate is up for sale at the modest price of $10.5 million.
The home is rather old, having been built in 1887. It was designed by McKim, Mead and White in Newport and the main house is 7,440-square-feet. In it there are nine bedrooms, eight bathrooms, nine fireplaces, Tiffany windows and fireplace tiles, with a carved staircase in the large foyer. The foyer's wood paneling has been treated with gold dust so it appears less dark. Formal rooms and the library open to the terracotta-tiled terrace and other private rooms open to their own private decks. Bedrooms are located on the second and third floors. The main kitchen is one floor below the dining room and food is carried by dumbwaiter to the butler's pantry off the dining room.
As for the grounds, Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York's Central Park, the Niagara Falls Reservation Park, Yosemite National Park, Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N. C.,, as well as verdant private gardens for the super wealthy, designed the gardens for this property. On the 23 acres there are lush gardens, specimen trees, and walking trails designed by Olmsted. The property is the second highest elevation in Newport, and overlooks the Newport Country Club and distant views of the ocean. The property also has a barn, studio, tea house and greenhouse. There is a five-room gardener's cottage, and a carriage house with two apartments and space for five cars.
The current owners have restored the original Olmsted gardens, removing invasive plant material and creating a healthy environment for the original flora, something they may wish to instruct the Niagara Falls State Park stewards about someday. |