NDA-Miramar Mansion Pool House Samples—Private
The Miramar Mansion is a 30,000-square-foot French neoclassical-style home located in Newport, Rhode Island. Streetcar magnate George Dunton Widener purchased the property in 1911 with the intention of constructing a summer home for his family. Widener hired architect Horace Trumbauer, who had previously designed the nearby Edward Julius Berwind property “The Elms,” as well as Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania for Widener’s father. Trumbauer took inspiration from the Boullée/Lacroix east wing of the Élysée Palace in Paris, as well as the courtyard façade of L’Hôtel Cassini in Paris. The Parisian firm of Carlhian & Cie were responsible for the interiors. The gardens were designed by French landscape designer, Jacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber, who had recently completed the gardens at Lynnewood Hall.
While the property was being planned, Widener, his wife Eleanor, and their son Harry traveled to Europe to purchase artwork and furniture for their new home under the direction of famed art dealer Joseph Duveen. Tragedy struck during the return trip in 1912, when George and Harry went down with the Titanic; Eleanor would survive. Eleanor would go on to complete Miramar between 1913 and 1914.
The property would change hands several times; along with it came numerous updates to the property. In 2006, the property was sold to former Goldman Sachs banker David B. Ford and his then fiancée, Pamela Fielder. Ford, a committed preservationist, made it his mission to restore the Miramar Masion to its former glory with the help of John Tschirch, the architectural historian for the Preservation Society of Newport. Detailed studies were performed, including a detailed interior paint analysis, followed by a series of conservation treatments and renovations including exterior stone cleaning, repointing, roof and balustrade work, a new geothermal heating and cooling system, tree care, and more. The property was sold again in 2021.
EverGreene was contracted by the owner of the property and Livingston Builders to acquire samples of several types of finishes to renovate the Miramar Pool house. Samples include four Stuc Pierre designs with grout lines suggestive of 2’x4′ blocks, two plaster finishes with heavier aggregate and harder vertical dragged striae, two plaster finishes with heavier aggregate and softer vertical dragged striae, and three different “nebulous” Fresco-secco samples for the ceiling.
