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