Ochre Court
Commissioned by New York real estate magnate Ogden Goelet as his family's summer residence, Ochre Court (1888-1892) was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. Built in the Beaux-Arts style, Goelet spent an estimated $4.5 million on the estate between 1888 and 1892. James Sinclair and company completed the stonework with blue Indiana limestone, and the 13 acres of estate grounds were designed by the Olmstead brothers. Interior decorators Jules Allard and Karl Theodore Francis Bitter collaborated on the design of the interiors. Ochre Court was one of the first electrified residences in Newport.
Examples of its French Gothic style are pointed arches, lancet windows, stained glass windows, rounded arches, and floral and acanthus leaf carvings. Ochre Court was donated to Religious Sisters of Mercy for Salve Regina College in 1947 by Robert Goelet. Mrs. Roberta Goelet donated the furnishings.
Sources: RIAMCO (Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online), the Campus buildings of Salve Regina University and "Newport through its architecture" by James Yarnall.
Ochre Court gifted to Salve Regina College
Bishop Francis P. Keough and Mary Matthew Doyle, RSM, stand with Mrs. Roberta Goelet, and Mr. Robert Goelet in 1947 at the Pontifical Mass.
Bishop Keough led the Mass that blessed and opened Salve Regina College on Mercy Day, Sept. 24, 1947. Dignitaries from throughout the region attended. Robert Goelet, who died in 1966, gifted the family's summer villa of Ochre Court to the Religious Sisters of Mercy, in memory of his father, Ogden Goelet.
Newspaper articles detailed the life of the Goelets
The New York Times, available through the Historical New York Times Access database, is a rich resource for exploring the lives of the people who resided in the mansions of Newport. One dated Sept. 3, 1903, discusses the fortune of Mary "May Goelet," daughter of Ogden Goelet, while another details her life in an obituary.
Resources
- Goelet Family PapersThis collection includes financial records and correspondence related to Ogden Goelet and his family members, including his brother and his son, both named Robert. Much of the material relates to the family's real estate holdings in New York City and Ogden's Newport residence, Ochre Court.
- The library of the late Ogden Goelet of New York byCall Number: Special Collections NE215.U5 L53 1935Publication Date: 1935
- New York views : The important collection of seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth century prints and drawings byCall Number: Special CollectionsPublication Date: 1936
Ochre Court's historic role in entertaining
- Ochre Court dinner for the America's Cup racesThe Goelets hosted 50 people for dinner at Ochre Court, in honor of the America's Cup races in September of 1930.
- Dinner dance at Ochre Court VillaA dinner dance in the summer of 1902 honored May Goelet, and was hosted by her mother, Mrs. Ogden Goelet. American Beauty roses adorned enormous trees inside the house, while 350 guests dined and enjoyed the music of two orchestras.
