The Rosecliff Collection (PSNCA.H.003)

Biographical note

The Oelrichs Family:

Theresa “Tessie” Fair Oelrichs was born on June 30, 1871, and was an heiress to the Comstock Lode silver fortune, discovered and cultivated by her father, James Graham Fair. Her childhood was troubled by her parents divorce, including a custody battle for charge of her and her sister, Virginia. While spending a summer in Newport, Tessie met steamship tycoon, Hermann Oelrichs, while playing tennis at the Casino. The pair married a year later in 1890. Her father was not invited to the ceremony, although he gifted his daughter 1 million dollars on her wedding day. Tessie and Hermann moved east, residing in New York and Newport, and travelling extensively in Europe. Tessie became a leading hostess in Newport, and with Alva Vanderbilt, she orchestrated the marriage of her sister Virginia “Birdie” Fair to William K. Vanderbilt, Jr., Alva’s son. This maneuver secured her place in the societal “triumvirate,” which included herself, Mamie Fish, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. These women ruled society in Newport and beyond, hosting lavish entertainments, and enforcing society’s most necessary graces. Eventually, Tessie and her husband became estranged, and Hermann moved to the west coast, while she remained in the east. Hermann died of a heart attack in 1906 without reconciling with his wife. Tessie died in 1926, leaving Rosecliff to her son, Hermann Oelrichs, Jr.

The Monroe Family:

After a series of owners following Hermann Oelrichs, Jr., J. Edgar Monroe, a businessman from New Orleans, purchased Rosecliff in 1949. The Monroes maintained Rosecliff as a summer home until the couple donated the property and all its contents to the Preservation Society in 1971.