The Dark Story of Rosecliff Built for Parties, Sold for Less Than ONE of Them

The Dark Story of Rosecliff: Built for Parties, Sold for Less Than ONE of Them The official story is a happy one. A silver heiress from Nevada builds the most beautiful party house in Newport, fills its ballroom for a quarter of a century, and dies at home in the house she loved. But the people closest to Tessie Fair Oelrichs told a different story. In August 1904 she threw the white ball every Newport party was measured against, with powdered hair, swans in the fountains and a fleet of white ships on the dark water. Two years later her architect was shot on a New York roof garden, her husband died at sea, and his will left his estate to his brother. By her niece's account, she spent her last years at Rosecliff welcoming guests who were not there. The house cost two and a half million dollars to build. In 1941 it sold for twenty-one thousand. And the next owner never spent a single night under its roof. Chapters: 00:00 — Cold open: the white ball 02:28 — ACT I — THE RISE 06:45 — ACT II — THE FACADE 11:00 — ACT III — THE CRACK 16:06 — ACT IV — THE RECKONING 20:40 — ACT V — THE AFTERMATH Source Material Visual material used in this production is obtained from publicly accessible archives, including Wikimedia Commons and Europeana. Copyright & Fair Use Notice This channel incorporates copyrighted material under the principles of Fair Use as recognized by U.S. law. Under Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act, certain uses of copyrighted works such as for analysis, commentary, educational purposes, research, and reporting are permitted without prior authorization from the copyright holder. Sources Preservation Society of Newport County, Rosecliff history — https://www.newportmansions.org/mansi... Rosecliff, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosecliff Theresa Fair Oelrichs, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresa... Rosecliff Collection, biographical note (PSNC archive) — https://www.riamco.org/render?eadid=U... Rosecliff, American Aristocracy — https://americanaristocracy.com/house... #documentary #history #Newport #GildedAge