George Champlin Mason had family ties with the Perry family as
Elizabeth Champlin Mason married Commodore Oliver
Hazzard Perry.
Caroline
Perry Belmont, daughter of Commodore Matthew Perry, commissioned Mr. Mason to build
By-the-Sea for the Belmont Estate. Caroline married
August Belmont, a Rothschild bank agent and prior poor,
Hessian Jew who came to America and used his Rothschild
connections to build his fortune. Their son, Oliver
commission Richard Morris Hunt to build the famous
French Renaissance-gothic mansion "Belcourt Castle" as a
replica of Louis the XIII hunting lodge in Versailles.
The sixty room mansion soon became the quarters of his
new wife, Alva Vanderbilt-Belmont, and is now owned by
harle Tinney, a dear acquaintance of the innkeepers, who
has the mansion open for tours. |
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Slip into the past
in our Perry Suite. Spanning the east wing of the
mansion, this room is our largest and also offers a
unique history in the house, as it was the original
bathroom, master bedroom (for a time) for George
Champlin Mason and the nursery of George Mason Junior.
The Perry Suite has a duality. Its history suggests an
area of the mansion with a lot of activity. If only the
walls could talk. to think, every guest who entered the
house would have used the facilities. The head of the
house slept here with all his thoughts of writings,
blueprints and construction projects. The wet nurse
would have visited the nursery several times a day. The
domestics would have passed through this room to access
their private quarters from the kitchen.
However, now it
is a quiet room. The romance penetrates every fiber and
the silence will lull you to sleep. It gently faces the
south east with soft dogwood trees and rough pine trees
protecting its privacy. It would seem the morning light
would be overpowering but the glistening sun beams are
simply perfect. Everything about the Perry Suite is
stately Victorian but still there is something humble
behind it. The Perry Suite is for those who want
everything.
Featuring a Queen, four poster canopy bed,
gas fireplace, Private bath with Victorian clawfoot
soaking tub with whirlpool jet spa for ultimate relaxation and 2 person custom
glass & tile shower, A/C, alarm, clock, CD Player, Cable TV
with DVD, Parquet
floors with oriental rugs. Adjoining sitting room with
a small refrigerator. Wonderfully appointed
antiques in this large suite make this our most sought
after room. |