The tour begins outside in front of the house. We then walk around to the side and enter the house as the servants would have. We learn that the house was named for the elm trees that used to fill the yard. Dutch Elm diseases took care of that so today there are no Elms.
What you are going to see on this tour is how the hostesses of the Gilded Age made entertainment look effortless. The work took place out of the sight of the guests. With the help of call boxes, laundry rooms, large state of the art kitchens, butlers pantries to die for and even a coal tunnel with its own coal car the servants were able to keep everything running smoothly.
You begin with a climb up three flights of stairs to the servant's bedrooms. Some of them are set up as they would have looked. Most of them are shared rooms. There is, of course, a call box on this floor. Twenty-two people shared the 14 rooms and three bathrooms. If you have seen Downton Abbey, you have a pretty good idea what these rooms look like.
Now for the best part, you get to walk out onto the roof. You get a beautiful view of the grounds and some of the surrounding homes. This is a unique opportunity.
You now head down into the bowels of the house to see where the furnaces and the coal bin. The laundry and the drying room was next, I had to smile because I guess the Berwinds couldn’t have their laundry drying out in the backyard for their neighbors to see. Three people worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up with all the laundry. In Newport, 2500 residents worked as servants, 43 of them worked here at the Elms. 27 of them were outside servants, Mr. Berwind found any footprints in his white stone walkways to be unacceptable. The servants had to follow behind any quests who took a walk and get rid of any trace of their walk.
The kitchen as always is a fascinating place to visit. There is an ice box room with a big oak ice box. This was the pastry chef’s domain. The chefs that the Berwinds hired were trained by Escoffier and earn salaries that were astronomical even in 1900. The tour ends here in the kitchen and then it is off to the very fine gift shop. Keep in mind that there are a total of 82 stairs on this tour. That is quite a high number if you are not particularly fit.
Even if you have taken this tour in the past, it is worth giving it another go. New information obtained through research has been added about emigration and labor relations. The tour has been updated to reflect the new information. Be sure to check the Preservation Society of Newport County website for information about tour times. You will certainly enjoy the Servant Life Tour at The Elms.
If you are looking for a place to stay in Newport, I am a big fan of the Viking Hotel.
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