Resting on the famed Bellevue Avenue since 1852, Chateau-sur-Mer is an Italian-style villa designed for William Shepherd Wetmore, a China Trade merchant. The Wetmores were known for their fabulous parties, which they could throw year-round. (Unlike most Newport mansions, Chateau-sur-Mer was not a summer home.)
A decade after its completion, William Wetmore passed, leaving the property to his son, George. In the 1870s, he requested architect Richard Morris Hunt redecorate the house in the French Second Empire style. As you wander the immaculate home—its 45-foot-high Great Hall ceiling, marble hallways and herringbone flooring, and oak timbers mixing with crystal chandeliers—you’re mostly exploring furnishings from this era.