Chepstow
Architectural styleItalianate, Second Empire
Location120 Narragansett Avenue in Newport, RI
Completion date1860
ArchitectGeorge Champlin Mason Sr.
John K. Grosvenor (1979 addition)
ClientEdmund Schermerhorn
Websitenewportmansions.org/explore/chepstow
OwnerPreservation Society of Newport County

Chepstow is an Italianate house located at 120 Narragansett Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, built in 1860. It originally served as a summer "cottage", but the Preservation Society of Newport County now operates the property as a house museum. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Ochre Point-Cliffs Historic District in 1975 and within the Historic District of the City of Newport.[1]

History

Edmund Schermerhorn hired George Champlin Mason Sr. to build the house in 1860 as a summer home.[2][3] Schermerhorn was a first cousin of Mrs. Astor (formerly Caroline Webster Schermerhorn), one of Newport's most active hostesses.[4][5] Schermerhorn used the property as his full-time residence for several years leading up to his death in 1891, leading some to describe him as a "recluse".[6] Following his death, Schermerhorn's brother William Colford Schermerhorn became the property's owner.[7]

In 1911,[8] it was sold to Rolaz Horace Gallatin[9][10] a cousin of Albert Eugene Gallatin and nephew of Commodore Elbridge Thomas Gerry,[11] and his wife, Emily Lorillard (née Morris) Gallatin.[12]. Emily, a first cousin of Lewis Gouverneur Morris, named the property for Chepstow, the town in Wales from which the Morris family originated.[13][a]

Following Emily and Rolaz Horace Gallatin's deaths in 1944 and 1948, respectively, ownership of the property was divided equally between Emily's cousin, Lewis Gouverneur Morris, and his two daughters, Alletta Nathalie Lorillard MacDonald (née Morris, later McBean) and Frances Elizabeth "Betty" Perry (née Morris, previously Carhart, later Smith).[14] Alletta purchased her father's and sister's shares to become the outright owner of the property in 1949.[15] Upon her death in 1986, Alletta Morris McBean donated the property and its contents to the Preservation Society of Newport County, with the stipulation that her second husband, Peter McBean be permitted to use the house as he wished until his death.[16] After Peter McBean's death in 1997, the Preservation Society began operating the property as a historic house museum.[17][18]

The house has been altered through additions,[19] the most recent in 1979 with the addition of the garden room (also called the sun room) by architect John K. Grosvenor.[citation needed]

Present day

The property houses a dynamic collection of art and furniture, including some from other Morris family residences, such as the Lewis G. Morris House and Malbone Castle and Estate. Chepstow houses a collection of American paintings, mostly purchased by Alletta Morris McBean's mother, Nathalie Bailey Morris, featuring works by Fitz Hugh Lane[20], George Harvey[21], Albert Bierstadt[22], and Granville Perkins[23][24]. Other collection pieces include a portrait of George Washington by Jane Stuart, daughter of Gilbert Stuart, a portrait of Peter Muhlenberg, and silhouettes by Eveline Adelheid von Maydell[25] and Auguste Edouart[26]. Nathalie Bailey Morris was also a collector of miniatures by Edward Greene Malbone and Ann Hall, some of which are on view in Chepstow.

Among the house's furnishings is a walnut Queen Anne side chair reportedly owned by William Penn[4] and a cabinet reportedly owned by Thomas Wolsey.

References

Notes
  1. ^ The Morris family also bequeathed Malbone to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1978, who sold the estate to Patricia and Philip Archer Thomas in 1980.[27]
Sources
  1. ^ Tax Assessor’s Plat 34; Chapter 17.40 and 17.80 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Newport.
  2. ^ "DEATH OF A RICH RECLUSE.; EDMUND H. SCHERMERHORN, AN ECCENTRIC NEWPORT COTTAGER.". The New York Times. 2 October 1891. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  3. ^ "AN OLD LANDMARK TO GO.; THE SCHERMERHORN MANSION TO GIVE PLACE TO A BUSINESS BUILDING.". The New York Times. 7 December 1892. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  4. ^ Fulweiler, Megan (7 June 1998). "TRAVEL ADVISORY; Two Mansions Join the Newports Tour Loop". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  5. ^ Amory, Cleveland (2 September 1962). "The Crucial Battle of Modern Newport; The Battle of Newport". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  6. ^ "DEATH OF A RICH RECLUSE.; EDMUND H. SCHERMERHORN, AN ECCENTRIC NEWPORT COTTAGER.". The New York Times. 2 October 1891. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  7. ^ "Last Will and Testament of Edmund Henry Schermerhorn". Newport County, RI Probate Records. 44: 326, 383, 393. 1891.
  8. ^ Times, Special to The New York (7 April 1912). "NEWPORT.". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  9. ^ "R. HORACE GALLATIN". The New York Times. 2 November 1948. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  10. ^ "ESTATE OF MRS. GALLATIN; It Exceeds $1,000,000 and Husband Gets $30,000 a Year for Life.". The New York Times. 4 April 1917. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  11. ^ "A DAY'S WEDDINGS. | Gallatin--Morris". The New York Times. 29 April 1896. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  12. ^ John Conrad Weiser Family Association (1960). The Weiser family: a genealogy of the family of John Conrad Weiser, the elder (d. 1746); prepared on the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of his arrival in America, 1710-1760. John Conrad Weiser Family Assoc. p. 210. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  13. ^ Times, Special to The New York (17 February 1904). "A NEWPORT SHOW PLACE SOLD.; "Malbone," the Residence of Henry Bedlow, Bought by L.G. Morris.". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Last Will and Testament of Rolaz Horace Gallatin". Newport County, RI Probate Records. 120: 478.
  15. ^ "Deed". Newport County, RI Land Records. 172: 19.
  16. ^ "Alletta Morris McBean Will and Probate Documents". California Superior Court in and for the County of San Mateo. 14 October 1997.
  17. ^ Fulweiler, Megan (7 June 1998). "TRAVEL ADVISORY; Two Mansions Join the Newports Tour Loop". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  18. ^ "Visit RI website information". Archived from the original on 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  19. ^ Hammel, Lisa (6 October 1968). "Newport preserved". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  20. ^ "New York Yacht Club Regatta". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  21. ^ "Anson Phelps Villa at North Tarrytown". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  22. ^ "Hudson River, Malkasten Lawn with Figures". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  23. ^ "Castle William". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  24. ^ "New York Harbor, 1880". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  25. ^ "One Silhouette of Miss Alletta Morris". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  26. ^ "One Silhouette of Valentine and Ellen Mariana Morris". newportmansions.rediscoverysoftware.com. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  27. ^ Smith, Andy (November 2, 2013). "Neo-gothic castle in Newport is one of a kind, at $2.2 million". Providence Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2019.