A couple of weeks ago while visiting Newport during one of my many Cars & Coffee days (Audrain Auto Museum), I was driving down Bellevue Avenue and noticed the gates for Belcourt of Newport (formerly called Belcourt Castle) were open with a sign for guided tours. Driving through the historic iron gates towards the “hunting lodge” designed by the famed architect Richard Morris Hunt, this “summer cottage” was built for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont (whose father August was behind the legendary Belmont Stakes).

Belcourt is unlike any of the other Gilded Age mansions (The Breakers, The Elms, etc.). Its castle-like look proclaims that there should be a moat with a drawbridge, but alas what surrounds it is well-appointed grounds.  The interior is also a curiosity, as the first floor on completion in 1894 housed Perry’s horses and carriages, with the living quarters, ballroom, dining room, and other amenities housed on the second floor.

What I always found curious about the history of this unique residence, was when Alva Vanderbilt came into the picture when she divorced William K. Vanderbilt, married Perry, and left the grandeur of Marble House up the street, and took up residence at Belcourt. Vanderbilt made numerous changes to the property, including converting the first-floor stables into a banquet hall. Thankfully, Belcourt of Newport has survived well into the 21^st century and is now owned by Carolyn Rafaelian (founder of Alex and Ani) and is undergoing extensive renovations.

Belcourt is one of the few attractions in Newport that still offers guided tours. Not only have the tour owners done their homework on the history of the property but presented the tour in a lively and inviting fashion. It was during my “regular” tour that I learned of their Candlelight Walk with Ghosts Tour the following weekend.

As I was looking for some sort of Halloween event to attend, and as my friend and fellow filmmaker Dan Groom is a ghosthunter (and has produced some great work in this area), we both found ourselves at Belcourt a few days before Halloween for the “ghost” tour. Did we encounter any ghosts? Did we feel anything unusual during this tour? Personally, I did feel slightly out of this world when I was walking up the spiral staircase to the third floor.  Whether real or imagined, the atmosphere alone at Belcourt lent itself to a mysterious evening.

What makes these homes like Belcourt, Marble House, and the rest so unique, is their history. Not only in the construction and design of the residences but the personalities that inhabited them at the dawn of the 20^th Century. So many of us imagine what it was like back then and yearn to see these estates in operation as they were intended. Fortunately, HBO has answered us…

…The Gilded Age