Mrs. Belmont's Tea House

In a sense the architect is the most prescribed workman to be imagined. He has only a very few periods or orders among which to select and cannot by any force of genius invent a new one. Having selected an appropriate style, or undertaken one demanded by the client, he must then exercise such creative ability as he may have in order to impress his individuality upon the required task.

VIEW FROM LOGGIA -  TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.  

CHINESE DOG-DETAIL OF FRIEZE-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

When Messrs. Hunt and Hunt set out to plan a Chinese tea house in an American landscape, they were performing merely an exotic operation in total negation of any inventive or creative art. It is purely in the manner and spirit in which this Oriental fantasy has been carried to completion that we can estimate its value as an artistic product redounding to the credit of the architects.


In spite of Rudyard Kipling's famous dictum "that never the twain shall meet," there is a very distinct meeting of East
and West discernible upon a Newport bluff some fifty feet above the sea, where a most elaborate tea-house has been erected in true Oriental disguise upon Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont's estate, which bears the name of "Marble House".


This bizarre structure is in admirable keeping with its environment, the lines of the house conforming in exquisite harmony with the several contours of the property. It is this ability to design along the lines of nature which so distinguishes the true artist from the mere builder. In the present instance a striking composition has been realized, in which, as in a picture, this inspired teahouse takes its place aptly and artistically, approached from any angle. Only the closest and most intelligent study of the site could have brought about so satisfactory a solution of what was in fact a very puzzling task.

FLOOR PLAN - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I.   HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.  

In looking over the plans it must be conceded that in no single particular has the Chinese spirit been sacrificed to serve either a practical purpose or to win applause for some daring effect.

PROPOSED BRIDGE OVER STREAM AT TERRACE - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

A waterway separates the tea-house from the main gardens, access to which is given by a typical Chinese bridge, slung high above and reflecting sharply in the stream below.


The grounds are laid out formally in triangular style, with shrubs and flowers to uphold the general scheme of decoration. 

DESIGNS FOR FLAGS AND FLAGPOLES BY RICHARD H. HUNT - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

***Current View***

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At the apex of the triangle two Chinese flags float gaily in the breeze from suspended bars attached in true Chinese fashion to lofty masts.

FRONT VIEW-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

***FRONT VIEW-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.*** 

***FRONT VIEW-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.*** 

Regarding the house from the grounds the visitor is at once pleasantly impressed with the genial color scheme shown in the green panels and lacquered relief work on beams and frieze, the blue tone of balustrade tiles, culminating in the brilliant green of the roof, which is the salient feature of the building. 

REAR VIEW-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

DETAIL DRAWING OF ROOF-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

***REAR VIEW-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.*** 

Massive but graceful, it seizes the attention by its splendid coloring and fine wood carving, the restful dragons on the crest, the finials and various embellishments upon eaves and tiles planned to lend variety and charm in a striking degree. The curve of the roof dates back in fancy to far distant times when tent dwellers were wont to catch up their canvas with supporting spears.

ENTRANCE TO TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects. 

ENTRANCE GATEWAY-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.   

DETAIL-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects. 

The approach to the main porch is by way of nine stone steps flanked by superb Kang Hee vases of powdered blue, boasting a stature of seven feet, in truth a pair of dignified sentinels.

***INTERIOR - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.*** 

Entering the door, the emotions are once more stirred by a perfect hurricane of color modified by the calm blue of sky and ocean, viewed beyond the windows; priceless rugs and vases assail the senses already steeped in nepenthic odors of cherry and iris which pervade the room. 

COLOR STUDY OF INTERIORS BY RICHARD H. HUNT-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects. 

Lacquered woodwork and panelled wall's contribute a further interest, the teakwood panels being appropriately painted in the flat two-dimensional decorative style, with which centuries of Chinese art have made us strangely familiar.

INTERIOR HALF ELEVATION OF SIDE DOORS-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

The pilasters or structure members separating these panels have lacquered surfaces decorated with quaint Chinese quotations written in Chinese characters. It may be worth while to note a few of the more interesting examples, which are to be found in a manual by J. H. Stewart Lockhart.


A woman of strong character is said to be a hero among women.


Turning day into night means turning them topsy-turvy.


Women with pretty faces and fascinating manners really may overthrow cities.


Burning oil to prolong the day means labor day and night.


As for exaggerations of speech, they carry with them a cartload of demons.


Bewitching eyes are like the autumn waves.


The duration of one's life is fixed.


Happiness, long life, and health of body and mind are truly what all alike desire.


A multitude of evilly disposed people stir up strife, just as a crowd of mosquitoes can make a noise like thunder.


Many more proverbs attest the quaintness of the Oriental mind, as judged by a foreigner, but enough have been cited for the purpose. Painted in orthodox Chinese fashion upon the inevitable lacquer, they enhance in unstinted measure the appearance of the room.


To the uninitiated a few remarks upon the lacquer work should be of significance. So important an item led to many plans and discussions between Mr. R. H. Hunt, Mr. William A. Mackay, the painter, and Mr. Langdon Valentine, the last named being an expert on varnishes. A main difficulty to be confronted was the ability to employ a lacquer fit to withstand such conditions of climate as this sea-flanked tea-house must necessarily be exposed to, and in the sequel it is interesting to observe that, so far as is known, this is the first instance of real Chinese lacquer work in American construction; and many months of anxious experimentation were consumed in the process. Mr. William A. Mackay conducted the experiments in Mr. Hunt's office.


***Paradoxically, it was while decorating Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont's Chinese tea house at Newport that he stumbled on nautical camouflage. A destroyer anchored one day in the harbor in close range of the tea house. Mackay hastily sketched it. Next day when he returned to finish it, the destroyer had disappeared. Chagrined, he recklessly daubed the cardboard with colors until the destroyer's silhouette disappeared. Suddenly it came to him: "What if a real destroyer were daubed over with like colors? would it merge in with its background at sea and be lost to the eye?"***


Edward Dillon, M. A., in his essay on Oriental art, traces the practice back to remotest times, when an official caste of court lacquerers plied their mystic craft in the imperial residences, a craft originating with the earliest builders and decorators of the Buddhist temples, many of the ancient statues today preserving intact their original coating of this imperishable material. The lacquer tree is to be met with generally in hilly regions, growing in clusters along the slopes. The trunk, when tapped, yields a copious sap of greyish tone, which blackens on exposure, becoming dry under chemical reaction.


When lacquering an object of art it is necessary to apply a great number of coats, possibly eight, and care must be taken that a coat is thoroughly dry before the application of a fresh one. All joints, knots and imperfections of grain are carefully coated with lute and rubbed smooth, the surface being then covered with a special kind of fine hemp cloth. Having arrived at this stage, lutings of a mixture of rice paste and powdered porcelain are added to the lacquer, followed by more coats of pure lacquer, after which the surface is rubbed smooth with charcoal. As may be gathered, the process is exceedingly involved; and meticulous care has to be observed from start to finish. If genius is the capacity for taking infinite pains, the recorder should certainly acclaim the lacquerer and dower him with the posthumous fame.


When we remember that the climatic conditions hinted at above includes spells of fog, drops in temperature of many degrees below zero, with periods of intense heat supervening, it does not occur to one that any too much labor and forethought have been expended upon the materials employed.


Before leaving the subject of lacquering, we might mention that the basis of the material is closely allied with that used by the Chinese, with the addition of fossil gums obtained by fossicking in the swamps of New Zealand, the object being to combine strength with elasticity.


The colors were carefully selected. A hard test had to be undergone by every color or combination of colors to make sure the sunlight would cause no change or disintegration. Red, blue, yellow, white and black were the pigments used. The interior was painted by glazes and on this work no direct compound was employed, one color being superimposed upon the other. The Chinese in glazing are concerned with the laws of light, not those of pigment, and in this fact lies the great difference in color theory as observed in the East and in the West.

DESIGNS IN COLOR OF INTERIOR PANELS  BY RICHARD H. HUNT - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS.  

The panels have been painted in the manner of T'ang Dynasty panels, which to the Chinese mind are inseparably associated with poetry, painting and music, the four seasons often rendering the desired themes. The graphic quality of the paintings so thoroughly in accordance with true Chinese tradition has been superbly maintained, many months of loving labor being devoted to a successful achievement. The technique is oil mixed with turpentine to a thin solution to enable the wood grain to simmer through at will in the manner employed by the miniaturist, who permits one to see in places the delicate traceries of the ivory upon which he commits his portrait.

STUDY FOR TEA-HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects. 

STUDY FOR TEA-HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.

STUDY FOR TEA-HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.

STUDY FOR TEA-HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.

STUDY FOR TEA-HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. Hunt & Hunt, Architects.

FINAL SCHEME - TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

A CHINESE RENDERING IN WATER-COLOR BY RICHARD H. HUNT-TEA HOUSE OF MRS. O. H. P. BELMONT, NEWPORT, R. I. HUNT & HUNT, ARCHITECTS. 

The Tea House at wikimapia.org.

After she divorced Mr. Vanderbilt in 1895, Alva married Oliver H. P. Belmont and moved up the avenue to his house, Belcourt. She continued to own Marble House, however, and after Mr. Belmont died prematurely in 1908, she moved back into Marble House. She had Chinese workers come from China to build it and had the reputation for paying them very generously. What she got was a genuine, authentic tea house but no place to make the tea. To solve the problem, the lady of the house had a track laid between the house’s kitchen to the pantry of the tea house, concealed from sight by hedges. When the tea was hot, the footmen got onto the little rail cars with their trays and delivered their tea. By then Mrs. Belmont had begun to forsake much of her society role to become involved in the Suffragette Movement. The Teahouse was inaugurated on completion in 1914 with a conference of women activists for a Women’s Vote Meeting.