Still nestled amidst the verdant landscapes of Newport, Rhode Island, the Malbone Castle and Estate stands as a testament to centuries of architectural evolution and societal shifts. Its history tells a fascinating story of destruction, rebirth, and enduring grandeur, recently brought back into the spotlight as one of the filming locations for HBO’s series The Gilded Age.
Malbone Estate in 2014
The story of Malbone begins in the mid-18th century. Colonel Godfrey Malbone, a wealthy merchant, privateer, and slave trader, commissioned a magnificent country residence designed by the renowned colonial architect Richard Munday. Munday, also responsible for Newport’s iconic Trinity Church and the Old Colony House, created a mansion so grand it was considered among the finest in the American colonies, even hosting the future President George Washington in 1756.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research Newport 2025 (Julie Skarratt Photo Credits)
However, in 1766, a devastating kitchen fire during a dinner party reduced this architectural marvel to a pile of pink sandstone rubble. Legend has it that Colonel Malbone famously declared, “By God, if I must lose my house, I shall not lose my dinner too!” and ordered the furniture and meal moved outside as the original house was consumed by the flames.
For many decades, the pink sandstone remnants of Malbone Hall stood as a romantic ruin, a picturesque backdrop for Newport’s elite. It wasn’t until 1848 that a new chapter began. New York lawyer J. Prescott Hall, a descendant of Declaration of Independence signers, acquired the property and embarked on rebuilding directly atop the original foundations. He engaged prominent 19th-century architect A.J. Davis, a leading proponent of the Gothic Revival style. Davis’s design called for crafting a new building from the same pink Connecticut sandstone as the original structure, incorporating elements of the original building, such as the porte-cochere. Embracing the castellated aesthetic popular at the time, the estate became known as Malbone Castle.
Hope Funds for Cancer Research Newport 2025 (Julie Skarratt Photo Credits)
In 1875, the interior of Malbone underwent further significant transformation under the supervision of Newport architect Dudley Newton. Newton’s most notable contribution was the addition of a “massive carved oak staircase,” an opulent feature reflecting the era’s burgeoning taste for elaborate interiors. For more than 130 years, Malbone has remained a private summer “cottage” for prominent families. Its extensive gardens, originally laid out by Godfrey Malbone and later renovated by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing, added to its allure.
Today, Malbone holds significant historical importance as one of the few remaining examples of A.J. Davis’s work in Newport and for its connection to both the Colonial and Gilded Age periods. Its continued preservation is essential for understanding the architectural and social history of New England. The estate’s enduring appeal was recently underscored by its selection as a filming location for Julian Fellowes’s critically acclaimed HBO series The Gilded Age. While many of Newport’s grand mansions were used to depict the opulent lives of the era’s wealthy, Malbone’s distinct architectural character and preserved interiors offered an authentic backdrop from the era before the Gilded Age. In the show, it represents the elegance of Newport’s “Old Money” residents, who were horrified by the ostentation of the “New Money” families that rose to wealth and power after the American Civil War.
Malbone Estate in 2025 (Julie Skarratt Photo Credits)
This house allows viewers to step back in time and witness the grandeur and social intricacies of mid-19th-century American high society. Today, Malbone is still a private residence. As one of Newport’s oldest mansions, it continues to captivate and stands as an embodiment of the complex, layered history of high society in Newport.
A4 Architecture is pleased to assist owners in preserving their extraordinary architectural treasures, restoring these buildings and adapting them for modern living for many decades to come. If we can be of assistance to you in a similar effort, please reach out to us so that we can talk.
Ross Sinclair Cann, AIA, LEED AP, is an author, historian, educator, and practicing architect at A4 Architecture who lives and works in Newport, Rhode Island. He studied with Professor Scully as an undergraduate at Yale and was a teaching assistant for Robert A.M. Stern at the Columbia School of Architecture in New York. He has worked on dozens of buildings by McKim Mead and White, Peabody and Sterns, and other noted architects of the Gilded Age and has frequently designed renovations and new buildings in the Queen Anne Revival and Shingle Styles.