13. Family (Versailles) Dining Room

"The Family Dining room is the most beautiful dining room in America" according to first lady Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower when she visited Belcourt Castle in the late 1950s when Newport was the Summer Whitehouse. Harold S. Vanderbilt (son of Alva Belmont and William K. Vanderbilt) who visited Belcourt Castle several times, expressed his love for this, his favorite room

The French Empire style antique white room is shaped in a graceful oval with full-length mirrors between French fluted columns. The bay window overlooking the western panorama of the pond, Atlantic Ocean, and Ocean Drive has versatile mirrored shutters, which raise out of sight to allow the French Doors to open.

Highlighted by indirect lighting installed by Thomas Edison at the time of the original construction, the oval dome ceiling of ornamental sculptured staff work has a bas-relief depicting Apollo driving his sun-chariot through the sky, based on the oil painting "Aurora" by Guido Reni. Hand sculptured leaves form a wide border below a deep curved area, which contains twelve lozenges of the same lady in different moods, symbols of the four seasons and garlands of fruit. Like a classic wedding cake, the frieze has a traditional rinceau and a bracketed deep cornice built up with waterleaf, egg and dart, beaded and dentil moldings.

The dome is suspended from massive roof timbers by means of iron rods bolted through the wooden members of the roof structure.