Belcourt of Newport

Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design the mansion between 1891 and 1895, modeling it after the hunting lodge Louis XIII built at Versailles. The ground floor was built to house Belmont's horses and carriages — his living quarters came second. In 1896, he gave the house to his new wife, the former Alva Vanderbilt, who transformed it into a gathering place for Gilded Age society and later a base for her women's suffrage work. The house, locals will tell you, has never entirely shaken its reputation as the most haunted in Newport.