Many of us have had to move in our lifetimes, and if you had fond memories of your home,
maybe you wish you could have taken it with you.
Hi everyone ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring a home that was moved several states away for this very reason.
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house.
In a previous video we explored Edson Bradley Junior’s mansion in Washington DC known
as Aladins Palace.
If you did not see that video that is okay.
He was a whiskey baron who had moved to DC to fight against prohibition, and while he
was there he built an incredible mansion full of masterfully crafted artisan work.
When Prohibition became law, there was nothing left for him to do in DC, so he decided to
make the best of his circumstances.
He set out to give his best friend and wife Julia the ultimate present for their 50th
wedding anniversary which was only a few years away.
In 1922, Edson rehired the architect of Aladin’s palace, Howard Greenley to design a vacation
home for Julia.
The Bradleys had loved their home in Washington DC so much that they wanted to take it with
them.
They tasked Howard with the monumental feet of deconstructing the interior of Aladin’s
palace and reassembling it inside their new home in Newport.
After several painstaking years of dismantling and reassembling, the new home which would
be named Sea View Terrace was completed in 1925.
It had cost over 2 million dollars or the modern day equivalent of over 33 million to
move the interior.
The result was a Norman Style chateau boasting 54 room across three floors Including an entire
tower which had been transported from the previous house.
The great hall rose two stories with limestone arches and niches cut into the walls.
A large wooden balcony was intricately carved with relief work facing an iron chandelier
with tapestries and trophies decorating the walls.
Even here we can begin to see the Bradley’s collection of European artifacts including
shining suits of armor guarding the front door to either side.
At the end of the hall, a tiger’s hide lay sprawled out below a shrine depicting the
Virgin Marry below the crucifix, one of the first things guests would see upon entering
the Bradley’s home.
Continuing on to the stair hall you would pass over a persian rug and below an intricately
coffered ceiling soaring above European antiques.
At the end of this hall was the staircase protruding through an opening in an arcade,
turning at each interval in line with the columns.
The drawing room took on a more English inspired design with a large limestone fireplace supporting
by octagonal posts with a solid wood uppermantle boasting intricate relief work.
To either side of the hearth were French doors with leaded glass beneath 2 rows of transom
windows.
Though the walls and ceiling were monochromatic, the tapestries and heavily patterned fabrics
brought in a plethora of colors giving the space greater visual depth.
Long corridors could be found meandering through the chateau with gothic windows feeding into
a series of groin vaults suspending pendant lights from their centers.
Continuing on, you would find the Music Room, fully reassembled from Aladdin’s Palace
with large rounded ceilings and fluted Corinthian columns painted white, once again the only
color came from the rich collection of fabrics and tapestries accented by freshly picked
flowers reaching 7 feet into the air.
The walls were heavily textured with plaster work crafted in a floral motif with geometric
patterns in the frieze.
The parquet floor below was kept freshly waxed to brilliantly reflect its warm tones about
the painted ceiling.
These floors continued into the dining room below the Jacobean ceiling.
The walls were finished out with wood panels and decorated with antique tapestries.
Though the table was set for only four people, it could be expanded to host much larger dinner
parties.
Of all the twists and turns throughout the chateau, there were mysteries to be discovered.
Spy holes could be found looking into other rooms and the only way to access the pipe
organ room was by entering it through a trapdoor on the third floor.
In 1929, Seaview Terrace was finally finished, but unfortunately, in that same year, Julia
passed away.
Shortly after, the Great Depression hit and Edson transferred the house to the ownership
of his daughter Julie, but her husband suddenly died.
Together, Edson and Julie moved to a 20 room apartment in New York City to live out the
rest of their lives, vacationing to Seaview together in the summer.
Edson passed away in 1935 and Julie held onto Seaview Terrace until 1941 when the taxes
became to great to afford.
With no heirs to pass the house onto, she sold it before passing away in 1948, the last
of the Bradley line.
The house changed hands several times, even becoming a boarding school for a short while.
In the late 1960’s it became the backdrop for the soap opera Dark Shadows and was given
the fictitious name Collinwood Mansion in the hit ABC television show which gained the
nickname “The Vampire Soap Opera”.
In 1974, Seaview Terrace transferred ownership again to the Carey Family who leased the out
to an adult entertainment production company.
This caused an uproar in the tightly nit neighborhood so the Carey’s leased out Winfield Hall,
one of their other mansions, for filming to continue.
As Seaview Terrace began to fall into decay, they brought in Donald Tinney of Belcourt
Castle in Newport to aid in the restoration efforts.
Since 2009, it has been used by the family as a private residence though they have continued
to allow filming, such as the production of the SyFy series Stranded in 2013.
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