REAL ESTATE ?
The Ocean State is lousy with multimillion-dollar
properties, no matter which way the sea breeze sprays.
But the toniest communities of the East and West bays
have distinctly different vibes.
EAST BAY
339 Ocean Ave., Newport
PRICE: $37 million
DETAILS: 7 beds, 9 baths over 10,000 square feet WEST BAY
500 Ocean Rd., Narragansett
PRICE: $5.25 million
DETAILS: 3 beds, 3 baths over 3,324 square feet
Now here’s a place to be alone with your inheritance. The forty-
five-acre Seaward — listed with Compass and the most expensive
home in Rhode Island MLS history — is the last massive ocean-
front compound in Newport; John Jacob Astor and Jimmy Van
Alen both owned the property over its debonair history. The
main house, rebuilt from found granite in 2008 and fortress-like
in design, is the moneyed version of “Get Off My Lawn!” But if
you’ve got a touch of social introversion — Gatsby syndrome,
perhaps? — there’s a 3,000-square-foot guest house and a
pavilion that can host 2,000 friends for cocktails. The beach town’s priciest property, a rare four-acre offering
held by the same family since the 1940s, once housed a Gilded
Age mansion, Whitehall. The palatial summer home was
demolished in 1969 because the owner deemed it too large
and too expensive to maintain. The abode he built in White-
hall’s place, a one-story contemporary with a finished lower
level listed last summer with Lila Delman, is more like “Chill-
hall.” Cozy pine shiplap adorns the ceilings and a sunroom is
bedecked with artificial turf. And don’t get us started on the
cocktail lounge with retro bar; it’s five o’clock somewhere.
W I N N E R : E A S T B AY , ALL THE WAY. NEWPORT IS TO TIFFANY,
WHILE NARRAGANSETT IS TO TOMMY BAHAMA. —C.N.
WHO’S GOT THE
POLITICAL POWER?
When it comes to winning the governor’s office, the West Bay
has flexed its muscles more often, beating gubernatorial candidates
from the East Bay by a wide margin in the last 100 years.
G OV E R N O R S : EAST BAY: 3 WEST BAY: 6
OVERALL WINNER:
It’s a draw.
The West Bay may be bigger but
the East Bay has water on three
sides. It’s brawn plus beauty, folks,
our Rhody version of the perfect pair.
W I N N E R : W E S T B AY. (EVEN THOUGH
LINCOLN CHAFEE’S MOVED TO WYOMING). —S.F.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY
l JANUARY 2020 51
DISCOVER NEWPORT;
WHO HAS POSHER