Edith Wharton’s Newport Home is for Sale!

With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, what better way to kick off the summer season than with a tour of Edith Wharton‘s former Newport, Rhode Island summer home, which happens to be for sale?! Designed by architect John Sturgis in the late 1800s for Boston banker Samuel Gray Ward, “Lands End” was purchased by Wharton and her then-husband in 1893.  With the assistance of Ogden Codman Jr.,Wharton then revamped the home, ridding it of much of its “sumptuary excesses” typical of the Gilded Age. Wharton and Codman would then go on to cowrite The Decoration of Houses,  The Decoration of Houses which is known to this day as one of the most important decorating books ever written, commonly referred to as the Bible of interior decoration.

The 10,910-square-foot home is nestled among 5.6 acres overlooking Newport’s famed Cliff Walk and the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the main home, there is an eight-car garage that a later owner, Grand Dame Marion “Oatsie” Charles, converted into a smaller home known as the Whim. (This home is not included in the listing, but the current owners are open to parting with it, according to Architectural Digest.)  Additional property features include intimate perennial garden spaces, a saltwater gunite pool located off the billiard room, and galley wet bar room ideally located for outdoor entertainment. Expansive patios allow the outdoor spaces to take in the incomparable views. This iconic and rare property is an incredible gathering place for family and friends, the perfect balance of location, history, provenance, and architectural design to be enjoyed by its new steward for years to come.

Wouldn’t this make the perfect summer home?! Please click here to see the listing, and here to see Land’s End as featured by Town & Country in 2017.  For additional fabulous real estate for sale across the country, please click here. And if you are looking for the best sales this holiday weekend, I have included a shopping list below…. Enjoy!