Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum

Augustus and Bessie Van Wickle purchased the property in Bristol in 1894, drawn to its location because it offered for mooring their new steam yacht, The Marjorie, acquired from the renowned Rhode Island boat builder, Nathanael Herreshoff. The Van Wickles consciously rejected the nearby, more fashionable Newport, joining contemporaries who created enclaves along the shores of Narragansett Bay, from Westerly to Little Compton.