Chinese New Year at Castle Hill

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1 Chinese New Year at Castle Hill Great places in the U.S. to celebrate Chinese New Year: San Francisco, New York, Newport, R.I.? Well, culinarily speaking YES. Chinese New Year s Eve is January 27, issuing in the latest Year of the Rooster. Coincidentally, or maybe not, it is the day that we open Castle Hill Inn and its fabulous dining after our winter hiatus. The premiere event for 2017 (with plenty more to follow) will be a culinary celebration of Chinese New Year orchestrated by Chef de Cuisine Andy Taur. Andy is of Chinese descent and will be presenting some of the culinary traditions of his own family, with that Castle Hill flair added in, of course. Chef Andy remembers his family s Chinese New Year celebrations being like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year s all rolled into one. If you visit us during our Chinese New Year celebration, or any other time of the year, notice the Chinese guardian lions that flank the entrance to the mansion, relics of the collection of Chinese art and artifacts that are still on display, dating from the time of the original owner of the house Alexander Agassiz. Inside the mansion, wonders of 19 th century design abound, with Asian accents a table there, a screen over there a continuing reflection of the world travelling and renowned marine biologist, Agassiz.

2 From the City of Flowers to the City by the Sea American interest in Chinese culture and art was spurred on by the China Trade, local practitioners of which retired to Newport in the mid-19th century, including the King family at Kingscote -- a near perfect example of American Gothic Revival -- and the Wetmores of Chateau-sur-Mer -- the grandest abode in Newport from the time it was completed in 1852 until the building of the Gilded Age palaces some forty years later. Both Kingscote and the Chateau-sur-Mer are house museums run by the Preservation Society of Newport County and are also National Historic landmarks. The library at Kingscote, pictured above, displays precious Chinese objects that originally made their way to Newport from the shipping ports of Canton. East meets West in the library at Kingscote, with authentic Chinese objects and paintings mixed in with Western interpretations of Chinese art, such as the Chinese harbor scene by George Chinnery. We even find repurposed objects, such as the Chinese vases that were turned into lamps, on the fireplace mantle. Above the mantle is a painting of Houqua the greatest of the China merchants in the 19 th century. It was gifted to William Henry King of Kingscote.

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4 We can trace the influence of Chinese art and design in Newport from the China Traders, who established homesteads in Newport on the newly laid out Bellevue Avenue in the mid-19 th century, to Victorian collectors of Asian art like Agassiz out at Castle Hill, back to Bellevue Avenue, when the excesses of the Gilded Age took over the street. American Chinoiserie The Marble House, built and designed by Alva Vanderbilt and her architect Richard Morris Hunt in 1892, is almost entirely an homage to Versailles and the style of the French Court. After her divorce from William K Vanderbilt in 1895, remarriage to O.H.P. Belmont and widowhood, Alva rethought her life purpose and design influences and built a Chinese Tea House, which she ironically used as a backdrop for Women s Suffrage rallies. The Tea House was completed in Over the years, it had fallen into disrepair and was precipitously close to the eroding cliff of Easton Bay. The Preservation Society of Newport County moved it to a safer location away from the cliff, restored it, and it was re-opened in A tribute to the erudition of the original architecture and the meticulousness of the restoration can be found in the fact that the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. was on scene for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

5 Several summer cottages in Newport were indeed just that, until the dictates of the Gilded Age called for a palatial style. The Elms was a modest cottage on Bellevue Avenue that was then replaced by an 18 th century French fantasy in 1901, built for Edward Julius Berwind, a Philadelphia coal baron. It has a French-Renaissance style library, a Louis XVI style drawing room, a Louis XV style ballroom and, wait for it, a Chinese style Breakfast Room. The style of the Breakfast Room is better described as Chinoiserie, as it mimics a French interpretation of Chinese design. It does indeed feature authentic 18 th century Chinese lacquer panels, one of which was duplicated by the French decorating firm of Jules Allard to complete the set. Berwind could sip the finest English tea served by his English butler, looking out onto his French inspired landscape, while also admiring his Chinese lacquer panels. Right here in Newport, Rhode Island. He had the right address, of course 367 Bellevue Avenue. Back at Castle Hill, in the present moment, we are prepping for the new season buffing the floors, touching up the woodwork and the paint, a thorough house cleaning of sorts, which coincidentally, or maybe not, is a tradition of Chinese New Year. In China, the celebration is also known as the Spring Festival a time of renewal and promise. Here s to a great start to the Year. Shea C Nelson