Inside the Preservation Society of Newport’s Annual Gala—Where Multiple Generations Partied Into the Night
Last Saturday evening, 500 tuxedoed and ball-gowned guests congregated on the grounds of The Elms, one of the more imposing “summer cottages” on Newport, Rhode Island’s Bellevue Avenue.
The sun was beginning to set, casting a glow much like the color of the Champagne in everyone’s glasses. Guests were merry upon seeing cousins, neighbors, and strangers in their black-tie best. Behind them stood the Horace Trumbauer–designed estate, an elegantly symmetrical structure in limestone modeled after a château in Asnières-sur-Seine, France. In front of them was a white tent with little caps like whipped cream; further beyond was the garden, where gravel paths are bordered by balustraded railings and pristine topiaries. Scanning the scene, a dedicated eye would have detected the ladies in slick Johanna Ortiz dresses and a young man with dreadlocked hair, but a haphazard survey would have produced something more timeless. It could have just as easily been 1919 as it was 2019; it was something to behold, and the thought that the very grounds on which The Elms sits were once endangered (in 1962, the landmark narrowly escaped demolition, with plans to transform the property into a shopping center) made the evening’s raison d’etre all the more significant.
It was the Preservation Society of Newport’s annual gala, a fundraiser for the very nonprofit which bought up The Elms from those thoughtless developers decades ago and has since continued to maintain it, along with 10 other estates, which all are open to the public to the delight of historians, tourists, and aesthetes alike.
For many, the evening began at a private home in the center of historic Newport, where the ocean views were just one of many things for guests to feast their eyes on. A short while after, everyone found themselves at The Elms. The assemblage included Newport’s grand dames (Mrs. Ruth Buchanan and Mrs. Edmund C. Lynch, Jr.), and the many generations that followed them, from the evening’s co-chair’s (Meredith Wood Prince, Joanna de Neufville, Meg Braff, Andrea van Beuren, Leslie Heaney, and Ruthie Sommers) to the pretty young things just a couple of years on the scene (Peter Brant Jr., Morgan O’Connor, Karl Dimitri). Eventually, the glittering crowd (those David Webb baubles that decorated many necks and ears might have had a little something to do with this) found their seats, welcomed by a chinoiserie deGournay wall panel.
Remarks—thanking the Society’s magnanimous board members and evening’s chairs—were brief, and dinner had not yet been served before partygoers got the party started. If the scene had earlier resembled something bygone, that on the dance floor was rooted firmly in the now. There was an anything-goes choreography as Champagne-happy folk of all generations displayed just how thoroughly they could enjoy themselves.
Yet another change of scenery led the crew beneath a weeping beech tree on the grounds; guests traveled through the streamer-like branches and were transported to a twinkle-light-filled party. For some, the night ended here, among the whimsical foliage; others were off to the after-party hosted by MK and Octavius Prince. There, a light installation bathed revelers in neon hues and music came from DJ Betto, who was flown in especially for the occasion. There was also a VR station offering a trip of the digital-variety, but this went largely (and perhaps unsurprisingly) unused. After all, who needs an alternate reality when the current one has been so wildly entertaining!
Photo: Courtesy of Nick Mele1/27Siblings Tilly, Bear, and Helen Matheson
Photo: Courtesy of Nick Mele2/27The event s co-chairs Meredith Wood Prince, Joanna de Neufville in Johanna Ortiz, Meg Braff, and Leslie Heaney
