<P> Newport's City Hall </P> <P> Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy southern planters seeking to escape the heat began to build summer cottages on Bellevue Avenue, such as Kingscote (1839). Around the middle of the century, wealthy Yankees, such as the Wetmore family, also began constructing larger mansions, such as Chateau - sur - Mer (1852) nearby . Most of these early families made a substantial part of their fortunes in the Old China Trade . </P> <P> By the turn of the 20th century, many of the nation's wealthiest families were summering in Newport, including the Vanderbilts, Astors, and the Widener family, who constructed the largest "cottages", such as The Breakers (1895) and Miramar . They resided for a brief summer social season in grand, gilded mansions with elaborate receiving rooms, dining rooms, music rooms, and ballrooms--but with few bedrooms, since the guests were expected to have "cottages" of their own . Many of the homes were designed by New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, who kept a house in Newport himself . </P> <P> The social scene at Newport is described in Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence . Wharton's own Newport "cottage" was called Land's End . Today, many mansions continue in private use . Hammersmith Farm is the mansion where John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy held their wedding reception; it was open to tourists as a "house museum", but has since been purchased and reconverted into a private residence . Many other mansions are open to tourists; still others were converted into academic buildings for Salve Regina College in the 1930s, when the owners could no longer afford their tax bills . </P>

Why are there so many mansions in newport
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