Rhode Island

Newport

Belcourt Castle

A Rothschild Banking connection comes with this family home constructed for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, who inherited a fortune from his father August Belmont, the Rothschild Banking representative in America. The mansion was considered his sixty= room house as his summer cottage. His summer cottage incorporated his love for horses and armor, medieval and renaissance architecture within 60-rooms.

He was still a bachelor at age thirty six He hired thirty servants to run his huge summer estate. His staff included his butler, housekeepers, footmen, stable boys, cooks and gardeners who kept the grounds beautifully

Mr. Belmont met Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt, wife of his best friend William Kissam Vanderbilt who was also his business partner in several sporting ventures. Alva E. Smith, daughter of an Alabama cotton merchant, was educated in France, married the second son of William H. Vanderbilt and had three children before she divorced Vanderbilt to marry Oliver Belmont in 1895.

After Belmont's death at 50 in 1908, Mrs. Belmont became involved in the Women's movement and actively supported votes for women. She died in 1933, still the owner of Belcourt.

The last surviving brother, Perry Belmont, sold Belcourt in 1940. It remained unoccupied until 1956, when the present owners, the Tinney Family, purchased the house as a residence. Belcourt Castle soon evolved into a museum as the Tinneys added their fabulous art collection from 33 European and Oriental countries.

Successive occupants have not disputed that Belcourt Castle has ghosts since 1956. The owner doesn’t think the house is haunted but thinks the ghosts came along with some of the antiques, particularly the monk". The monk came with a curious 17th century German woodcarving. More than one visitor has reported seeing a lifelike monk appear a step away from the stature. A moment later he disappears.

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