Fodor's Expert Review Chepstow

Though only slightly less grand than some of the other Newport mansions, this Italianate-style villa with a mansard roof houses a remarkable collection of art and furniture gathered by the Morris family of New York City. Its significant 19th-century American paintings include Hudson River School landscapes. Built in 1860, the home was designed by George Champlin Mason, a Newport architect, for Edmund Schermerhorn, a descendent of one of the first settlers of New Netherland, the 17th-century Dutch colony centered on New York (New Amsterdam) and first cousin of Mrs. William Astor.