Chateau Sur Mer or translated into english is castle above the sea. Chateaus Sur Mer was built by William Shepard Wetmore. It was completed in 1852 as a French Villa for William Shepard Wetmore. He was a merchant in the China trade business. The builder was Seth Bradford. The house was Victorian, the furniture, wallpaper,ceramics, architecture, and stenciling were all Victorian style. Then William Shepard Wetmore died in 1862. He left the bulk of his fortune to his son, George Peabody Wetmore. George Wetmore had graduated from Yale College and Columbia Law University.
William Wetmore was in the China trade business. That was where the majority of his fortune came from. He traded Chinese porcelain, Egyptian products, and other Chinese products. He built the 13 acred Chateau Sur Mer at Newport , Rhode Island. This mansion was different from the Elms, Rosecliff, Breakers, and marble House because this house was a Victorian mansion.
George Wetmore took a trip to Europe with his wife, Edith Keteltas. He left Richard Morris Hunt to redecorate and redesign the home. George Peabody Wetmore got the name Peabody from one of the designers of the home. During the 1870s, the Wetmores departed on an extended trip to Europe, leaving architect Richard Morris Hunt to remodel and redecorate the house in the Second Empire style. As a result, Chateau-sur-Mer displays most of the major design trends of the last half of the 19th century. The house is constructed of Fall River Granite.
Unlike most of the "cottages" built in Newport during this period, Chateau-sur-Mer was one of the few built as a year round residence. This was because the Wetmores were a New England family who made Newport their home. George was very active in Rhode Island politics during the late 19th century. A life long Republican, Wetmore was a member of the Electoral College of 1880 and again in 1884. In 1885 Wetmore was elected Governor of Rhode Island, and went on the win reelection in 1886, but was defeated in an attempt for a third term in 1887. In 1894, the Rhode Island General Assembly elected Wetmore to the United States Senate, where Wetmore remained until 1913. In the Senate, Wetmore served on the Naval Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee.
At the start of this guided tour was in the breakfast room. The breakfast room was full of artifacts and Chinese porcelain. Chinese Porcelain had a dragon near the top and nicely glazed pottery. The Porcelain was one of ancient Chinese secret recipe.
The tour guide explained that the breakfast room was later added into the home by George Peabody Wetmore. The next room was the room next to the entrance had a unique view of the staircases. The very top was a painted window not stain glass.
The difference between stain glass and painted is that stain glass was made with the glass while the painted was later painted on the glass.
When you move upstairs. You can see that on every bed is a button. This button calls the staff to bring them anything they would like. The tour guide joked that he asked his wife for one, but his wife said, "sure, but nobody is going to come." On the second floor is the bedrooms and the Wetmore family China. Their china are all protected by the Preservation society in glass cases.
