Chateau-Sur-Mer
Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI
Telephone: 401-847-1000

Built in 1852 for William S. Wetmore. Renovated by Richard Morris Hunt in 1872.

Chateau-sur-Mer is a landmark of the High Victorian Age in America. The house was the most palatial residence in Newport from its construction in 1852 until the appearance of the Vanderbilt houses in the 1890's. Chateau-sur-Mer was the scene for memorable entertainments hosted by the Wetmore family, from the "Fete Champetre", an elaborate country picnic, for over two thousand guests held in 1857 to the debutante ball for Miss Edith Wetmore in 1889.

Chateau-sur-Mer was built between 1851 and 1852 for the China trade merchant William Shepard Wetmore. Mr. Wetmore died in 1862, leaving the bulk of his fortune to his son, George Peabody Wetmore, and a generous allowance for his daughter, Annie Derby Wetmore. George married Edith Keteltas in 1869. During the 1870's, the young couple departed on an extended sojourn in  Europe, leaving the architect Richard Morris Hunt to remodel and redecorate the house. In 1897, Ogden Codman was commissioned to decorate the Green Salon, and, in the period of 1915 to 1918, the firm of Olmsted Brothers were engaged to make improvements to the grounds. As a result of these successive decorating and remodeling schemes, Chateau-sur-Mer displays most of the major design trends of the last half of the 19th century. George Peabody Wetmore had a distinguished political career as Governor of Rhode Island and as a United States Senator. He died in 1921 and his wife in 1927. They were survived by their two daughters, the Misses Edith and Maude, who never married. Miss Edith died in 1966.  The Preservation Society acquired the house in 1969.