On this day in Newport history, Miramar Mansion was inaugurated on August 20th, 1915.

Located at 646 Bellevue Avenue, it was intended as a summer home for the George D. Widener family of Philadelphia. George and his son, Harry, Widener lost their lives aboard the RMS Titanic.

Eleanor Elkins Widener, George’s widow, who was rescued in a lifeboat from the Titanic, completed the project and construction was undertaken during 1913 and 1914 and opened to friends with a large reception on August 20, 1915.

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Miramar was used by Andrew Panteleakis as a private residence with business offices from 1971 through 2006. Panteleakis, who purchased the property for $118,000 in 1956 from the estate of Alexander Hamilton Rice, Jr., sold it at auction conducted by Michael Fine in November 2006 for approximately $17.2 million. It was purchased then by retired Goldman Sachs partner David B. Ford and at the time was the most expensive single family home ever sold in the State of Rhode Island.

via @100yrsago2day on Twitter

This story was originally published on August 20, 2015. Sources: Some information obtained from Wikipedia.

Ryan Belmore is the Owner and Publisher of What'sUpNewp. Although not the founder or original owner, Belmore has been with What'sUpNewp since its early beginnings in 2012.

Belmore was born in Providence, Rhode Island; grew up and graduated high school in Coventry, Rhode Island; and lived in Newport, Rhode Island for more than ten years. He currently serves as Vice President of the Board Of Directors for Fort Adams Trust and on the Board of Directors for Potter League For Animals.

He and his wife, Jen, as well as their two dogs (Aero and June), recently moved to Alexandria, Virginia. Belmore travels back and forth to Newport every couple of weeks to cover events, work on story ideas, to meet with What'sUpNewp's on-the-ground contributors, to visit friends, and to eat as much seafood as possible.

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