" This is Chateau-sur-Mer, which is really the granddaddy of them all, a very lavish Victorian palace built by the Wetmore family, China trade millionaires. In 1870, they had Richard Morris Hunt remodel the house. It took 10 years to complete it. Let's go look at some of the inside rooms with Isabel White, our tour."

" Hi, Isabel."

" Hi, Bob. Nice to see you."

" Thank you, and today is the 1st day of all public tours in the house, right?"

" Yes, it is."

" So you've already got some visitors running through."

" We do."

" Tell me a little bit about the house. This is the front door, the front hall?"

" Yes, the front hall, and this is the 2nd main entrance to this house."

" After the remodeling?"

" That's right, and this dates some 20 years after the birth of the house."

" Okay."

" This is Richard Morris, the architect, who did, later on the Breakers, and then the house is somewhat---- This is his cat house, I'd say. He loved the woods. He loved the Eastlake looking---- You see this very simple medieval look?"

" Uh huh."

" See, it was a latch that he designed. Simple, but very elegant."

" What about painting the wall treatment above the wainscoting?"

" Those are very different, aren't they?"

" Yeah. Above those walls are covered, not with a tapestry, but with an imitation. It's done in canvas, painted canvas."

" Uh huh."

" Parisian, done by [unk]."

" And those are the original from the 1870s."

" That's the original one indeed."

" What about the ceiling painting in here?"

" Different, isn't it?"

" Uh huh."

" That's actually fresco. And you see, right here is the beginning of a tree of life with birds and cardinals and all. Do you see? There's a transition right from here over into the next room, the great hall. A tree of life continuing up here through the balconies up there 45, you see, feet up above, there's a painted window, which are backlighted by many gas jets."

" So at night it would have been brilliant up there, yes."

" Lovely."

" Now, you said it's 45 feet high."

" That's right."

" Quite a hall."

" Eastlake was a designer and a cake maker."

" He was."

" Yeah."

" He's rather set up with the industrial revolution"

" Uh huh."

" and the mechanization of, you know----"

" Of the creation of furniture."

" Exactly."

" So he was trying to go back to handwork."

" That's right. He didn't mind the mistake showing----"

" Uh huh."

" and so forth."

" Isabel, tell us about the mental around here that's of ceramic tile."

" This is beautiful. Down below to the rooms, all Minton, and then up here, very, very different runic tiles; some Celtic in design."

" The Minton is the manufacturer."

" Indeed."

" A company in England."

" Uh huh."

" And runic is the, what, the design, or, I guess it's archeologically based."

" This was way, way back, right."

" Oh, some years ago. Very unusual."

" Uh huh."

" Now, the family travelled extensively and that's why we have so many different items throughout the house."

" Yes. While the---- around Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore were on their 10-year honeymoon, as we say----"

" Yes."

" collecting. Venetian mirrors."

" Yeah."

" A venetian mirror is placed here, you see, to reflect the gas light."

" Yeah."

" It would have been gas light."

" Sure."

" It's safe from here."

" Sure. And China everywhere."

" China. That's their business."

" They were in the China trade."

" Indeed they were."

" That's where the fortune was made."

" Indeed they were. And so you have shallow shelves to hold this vast collection here."

" Did they have a lot placed in the house?"

" Oh, perhaps 3500 or so. And in fact, at one point, they had their own curator."

" Amazing."

" Yes, it is."

" So we have quite a number of rooms to give off of this hall, right?-Yes, you have a [unk] room, a reception room."

" Yeah."

" An Italian library."

" Beautiful."

" Uh huh. And then the old front entrance over here, which is rather a gallery, wouldn't you say?"

" Uh huh."

" And then over here to this side, a lovely ballroom."

" And what's this room?"

" Oh, that's the dining room."

" So this is what they baronial dining room."

" Indeed. Welcome to Renaissance, Italy."

" Right."

" Frullini, a sculptor, a decorator."

" Uh huh. And so all this carving is Italian?"

" Yes."

" walnut, I think."

" Yes, it is. It's [unk] walnut, Turkish Russian border. All done by Luigi Frullini while Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore were away in Europe."

" What are the walls made of?"

" Those walls are made of a leather, Florentine leather----"

" Uh huh."

" that with, you know, silver and gold, painted in----"

" And then the ceiling is also walnut?"

" That's all walnut. [unk] walnut."

" Unbelievable."

" The painting also."

" The table is unusual. It's kind of a rectangular table."

" It is unusual."

" More of a square."

" Uh huh."

" How big can you extend it?-I believe you can extend it in order to seat 24 people."

" And that ornament in the middle of that centerpiece?"

" Tiffany."

" A really Tiffany silver."

" Uh huh. Just is beautiful."

" Now this has got to be one of the more remarkable overmantle that I've ever seen."

" And you are the joist of the drink, the joist of the grape I should say."

" Yes."

" 3 little buckets type. You see, isn't that exquisite Bob?"

" Unbelievable carving. All these grapes are actually individual piece of a walnut."

" Uh huh. It's all hand done."

" Yeah. And the 3 little fellows are having a party, I guess, with the wine cake."

" Uh huh."

" The paneling is really beautiful in this room."

" Oh, yes."

" It's burl, isn't it?"

" Yes, it is a burl, burl walnut. Exquisite."

" Uh huh. You know, here, here is a surprise awaiting us. Here, we have this almost secret door, our entrance into the walk-in China closet."

" Oh you're kidding."

" Welcome to a world of porcelain."

" Unbelievable. All Chinese export."

" Uh huh."

" Etc."

" And 2 pieces of Tiffany."

" So is there a ballroom?"

" There's a ballroom ready and waiting."

" Now is this original to the house?"

" Yes, it is. Welcome to France, one of the first French rooms in Newport."

" Is that right?-From the 1850s."

" Uh huh."

" And this floor for a ballroom is spectacular."

" Later added."

" A herringbone pattern all done in oak. Now the only thing that I'm confused about is all this yellow fabric on all the furniture. Is that original to a French ballroom?"

" Well, they loved the gaiety of it, you see."

" Uh huh."

" This has all been replaced by Schumacher."

" So it's replica of what? With the originals?"

" Of the original silk, yes."

" Uh huh."

" Lovely."

" And that has got to be one of the biggest mirrors I've ever seen outside of a palace."

" You see 2 of them, don't you? One [unk]."

" One on the other end, yes."

" You know that these dates from the exposition in Philadelphia in the early 1850s, and then they were placed in this hall."

" I see. So they were bought at the Philadelphia exposition."

" That's quite cool. And then after that a large, a [unk] was held outside. Fantastic feast with the best chefs from New York."

" Fantastic."

" Yeah."

" You know what I'm noticing up close is that there are several shades of gray paint in the room."

" You noticed that? You know Bob, there at 7 there."

" 7 shades of gray."

" 7, yes. Giving all kinds of depths to the space."

" In all the gilding."

" Yes."

" What a great room."

" Uh huh."

" Now what's this hall?"

" This is the original entrance, Bob."

" Isabel, the floors are beautiful throughout the house. This is really special."

" This is special, Bob. It's beautiful black and white model, original to the house, original and kept at, and you know, such a high degree of polish?"

" Uh huh."

" This was the original entrance."

" So these were the front doors to the house."

" That's right, and that we replaced it with a copy of a dying gull."

" In the 1870's remodel?"

" That's right. This would have been, in the old days, opened practically to the sky to a turret way up above."

" So the ceilings again were added by Richard Morris Hunt?"

" That's right and rather an oriental design, isn't it?"

" Yeah, it looks like an ebonized set of beams up there."

" Uh huh."

" And all those beautiful floral and kind of oriental motifs. Very, very nice."