Reimagining: Kingscote Bedroom (A Newport Mansion)

Have you ever been to Newport, RI? I highly recommend a visit to see the historic coastal town and the extraordinary gilded-age mansions.

With the weather still chilly and dreary here, I took myself back to Newport via my photo album, to look through my photos from when I visited last summer. During my trip, I had purchased a pass to see several of the mansions I hadn’t been to yet, including Kingscote.

Kingscote is unlike many of the well-known mansions in Newport, such as the Breakers. Kingscote is more modest and one of the earlier summer “cottages”. Architect Richard Upjohn was commissioned to design the this Gothic Revival style house by the Jones family in 1839. After the Civil War, the house was sold to the Kings family and renamed Kingscote. In the 1880’s the King family hired Stanford White of the famous firm, McKim, Mead, and White, to expand the house and redecorate several rooms. (Learn more here)

I loved this house and its interiors. It’s now my favorite of the Newport mansions, after the Isaac Bell House. One of the rooms I most loved in Kingscote was this blue and floral bedroom (main image), which I believe belonged to King’s daughter, Gwendolen. I pulled some items below to recreate the breezy yet sophisticated look of the room.