Thank you for visiting Belcourt Castle last July; your comments are appreciated. For one family to preserve history is challenging at best.

Many preservationists, especially in the 1960s and early 1970s, believed that replacing worn damask, et cetera, with brand new material matched as closely as possible to the original was the correct policy to preserve a building. Make the place look brand new using modern technology. The Tinney Family philosophy was more like that of a doctor, to “do no harm”. There are ways to keep old fabrics, restore them and not throw them away in favor of a reproduction. Therefore we will do our best to save all the original work possible and restore it when we are certain that the processes are proper and reversible if necessary.

I smile at your perception of Alva’s warped floor. She was creating the “antique look” as she was enamored with English country houses of the seventeenth century which had warped floors and paneling naturally darkened by age. I love it – someone pointed out to me a few years ago that the second purpose might have been Alva’s inferior physical stature. I’m short too. If I stand on that spot in front of the doors I gain 12” of height and am eyelevel with my taller guests!

One thing likely not explained on the tour is that Belcourt was abandoned for 15 years before 1956. Every house (mansion) the Preservation Society received was in use by the millionaire who donated it to them and each property was endowed with a small fortune. The Tinney Family was told not to buy Belcourt – it was too far gone. Well, you visited. It is still here. I do live here and own the castle only as a survivor of an industrious family who spent their lives (over two centuries collectively) preserving what others disparaged as impossible to resurrect.

Again, many thanks for including Belcourt Castle on your Newport tour. Please come again.

Harle Tinney

Maybe part of the tour should go over these things and let everyone know, I certainly wouldn’t have made my judgments if I knew repairs were happening. It could even be a good selling point to come back and visit again.

I appreciate your comment and all the information you shared. Because of this, when I revisit Newport again in August I will revisit Belcourt. We did have a good time there and it was well informed tour, possibly my fault for lack of questions as well.

Thanks again, and I hope I did insult Belcourt, you, or Mrs. Tinney!

Why should Belcourt Castle sell to the Preservation Society? They have a monopoly on the other mansions and they’ve actually done little to nothing to promote friendship with their other neighbours.

I think that maybe you missed a point on your tour. The floor that bows? That was intentional. Alva Belmont had a concrete hump placed under that floor to create an authentic, settled English feeling for her son-in-law, the Duke of Marlborough.

Chairs torn up and falling apart? Belcourt acquired a lot of its antiques in an era where no one took care of them and the process of restoration is delicate. You simply cannot tear off fabric without documenting it all and trying to learn where it was created, etc. It can even destroy the value of a piece to tear off the original fabric which is ripped and replace it with a new fabric.

The silk walls are the way they are because it is difficult to find the people who can replicate an intricate design. Remember the monogram in the fabric? Wouldn’t want to lose that.

I know which room had a puddle in it too: the solarium. The reason? A contractor didn’t add the proper draining to the courtyard and now it has to be rectified and it will be rectified. No fault of Belcourt.

The roof DID leak at one point and that’s what causes water damage. Can one really believe that someone would “let” their roof leak? Obviously such things are surprises and can happen at any time.

The history has not gone to waste. With that attitude, however, people push the history to waste. They see something not pristine and they ignore it or they shun it and it is they who ultimately ruin it.

How do I know all of this? I know the owner! Am I mad though? Certainly not. I can tell you that four years ago things were worse. What people don’t know or realize are the fact that roofers are coming in, that the ugly white in the courtyard is primer for it to be painted, that things are being done continuously and progress has been made at an astounding rate.

I urge anyone put off by Belcourt to visit it at least once more and see the improvements which go on and on and on. I hope you have not taken my reply to your concerns as rude or offencive but merely as clarification.