Marble House was built as a $10 million birthday present for Alva Smith from her husband William K. Vanderbilt in Newport, Rhode Island. Designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt, Marble House is now a museum run by the Newport Preservation Society. When Alva and William divorced in 1895, Alva owned Marble House outright having received it as her 39th birthday gift. The mansion featured ornate rooms like the ballroom and dining room under Baccarat crystal chandeliers and a Chinese teahouse on the grounds.

3. Marble House was built at a
reported cost of $10 million as
a birthday present for Alva
Smith, William K. Vanderbilt’s
first wife. In today’s terms, that
sum is equivalent to more than
$100 million!
Marble House is a Gilded Age
mansion in Newport, Rhode Island,
now open to the public as a
museum run by the Newport
Preservation Society. It was
designed by the society architect
Richard Morris Hunt

4. When Alva Vanderbilt divorced William in 1895, she already owned Marble House outright,
having received it as her 39th birthday present.

5. The Ballroom

7. Marble House Gold Room

9. Baccarat crystal chandeliers

10. Guests of Cornelius Vanderbilt and
wife Alice Claypoole Gwynne
Vanderbilt dined under Baccarat
crystal chandeliers

11. The dining room

13. Music :
Glenn Muller-Charleston

14. Alva Vanderbilt’s Bedroom

17. The Chinese Teahouse at Marble House

20. The Chinese Teahouse at Marble House

21. Cornelius Vanderbilt II
introduced his “summer cottage”
to high society with a 1895
debutante party for daughter
Gertrude,
officially putting his $75 million
fortune on grand display.

24. Newport, Rhode Island. , USA