Private Newport - with Bettie Bearden Pardee

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Architecture & Interiors


Out and About with Private Newport

7 / 12 / 185 / 15 / 24

Whew, summer in Newport has seemed a long time in coming! But once that sun appeared and the breezes started, there was already a varied selection of guests, get togethers… Read More

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“Meet Me in St. Louis”

5 / 31 / 185 / 15 / 24

St. Louis is a town I’ve longed to return to since my last visit, forty plus years ago. With a “thank you” to the Garden Club of St. Louis, for… Read More

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At Home on the Upper East Side

5 / 24 / 185 / 15 / 24

With my speaking and booksigning travels, I don’t make it down to New York, one of my old hometowns, as often as I would prefer. But when I do, I… Read More

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The Vias of Palm Beach

5 / 3 / 185 / 15 / 24

My spring trip to Palm Beach was a bit shorter than anticipated, but while there I luxuriated in capturing the architecture, landscapes and gardens of this meticulously manicured island. One… Read More

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The Little Black Dress of Flower Urns

4 / 12 / 185 / 15 / 24

Many gardeners have a favorite “go to” container for our flower arrangements. They’re  like an old friend — reliable (water tight), accountable (whatever you arrange in them looks good), stylish… Read More

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Inspiring Garden Design: Italian Sensibilities in Huntsville, Alabama

3 / 8 / 185 / 15 / 24

As a garden aficionado, nothing gives me greater pleasure, nor inspires more anticipation, than visiting a new green paradise. And when you are very, very lucky you may be rewarded… Read More

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Come Along, I’m Heading South for my Lecture Series

2 / 22 / 185 / 15 / 24

Next week I head South for the beginning of my spring lecture series and book signing at the Huntsville Museum of Art. I cannot wait! This wonderful group, under the… Read More

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Newport, “Before and After” the Blizzard

1 / 18 / 185 / 15 / 24

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been intrigued with the “before and after” images in decorating magazines. This past December a version of this opportunity presented itself in… Read More

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A Paris Gem: Le Dokhan Hotel

1 / 11 / 185 / 15 / 24

Part of the pleasures of travelling to Paris is experiencing its many hotel offerings. No other city I know has as wide a selection as “The City of Lights”…from the… Read More

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A Winter Tale: Imagining a 19th Century Garret

1 / 4 / 185 / 15 / 24

This is a post that I wrote months ago but neither the season nor the opportunity ever presented itself for adding it to the website. Slipping into this New Year,… Read More

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About Bettie

Author of Private Newport and Living Newport, designer of the Parterre Bench, national lecturer, and entertaining expert.
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Insta Happenings

privatenewport

before trends… this was the standard

nothing accidental, nothing overlooked

follow for more places that feel like another era ☁️
#newportrhodeisland #thebreakersnewport #newportmansions #privatenewport #gildedagemansions

View Instagram post by privatenewport

May 5

366 18
Open post by privatenewport with ID 17906290311411005
before trends… this was the standard

nothing accidental, nothing overlooked

follow for more places that feel like another era ☁️
#newportrhodeisland #thebreakersnewport #newportmansions #privatenewport #gildedagemansions

privatenewport

Built around 1900 as a summer “cottage” for Anna Van Nest Gambrill, this American Renaissance-style estate is anything but ordinary.

Designed by Carrère and Hastings - the same minds behind some of the most iconic architecture of the era, this home has quietly evolved over time.

Today, it’s no longer just a private residence… but home to the National Museum of American Illustration, housing thousands of original works.

Newport always has layers..and this is one of them.

Save & follow @privatenewport for more you don’t always see ➡️
✨✨✨✨✨
#privatenewport #newportri #privateliving #gildedage #newportmansions

View Instagram post by privatenewport

May 4

669 37
Open post by privatenewport with ID 17883866517545502
Built around 1900 as a summer “cottage” for Anna Van Nest Gambrill, this American Renaissance-style estate is anything but ordinary.

Designed by Carrère and Hastings - the same minds behind some of the most iconic architecture of the era, this home has quietly evolved over time.

Today, it’s no longer just a private residence… but home to the National Museum of American Illustration, housing thousands of original works.

Newport always has layers..and this is one of them.

Save & follow @privatenewport for more you don’t always see ➡️
✨✨✨✨✨
#privatenewport #newportri #privateliving #gildedage #newportmansions

privatenewport

Often called America’s largest open house, Virginia’s Historic Garden Week offers a rare glimpse behind doors usually closed.

For one elegant week each spring, homes and gardens across the state are opened - revealing layers of history, architecture, and life as it’s truly lived. A tradition dating back to 1927, now carried on by hundreds of homeowners.

From classic Virginia red brick (as seen here), to Jefferson-inspired Palladian design, to storybook cottages and Italianate manors - the range is as refined as it is personal.

There’s something quietly extraordinary about a home that isn’t staged… just opened.

Save this for your spring itinerary… and follow for more places you weren’t meant to see 🤍
#virginiagardenweek #richmondvirginia #privatenewport #privateliving #fyp

View Instagram post by privatenewport

May 3

307 7
Open post by privatenewport with ID 18096325154131385
Often called America’s largest open house, Virginia’s Historic Garden Week offers a rare glimpse behind doors usually closed.

For one elegant week each spring, homes and gardens across the state are opened - revealing layers of history, architecture, and life as it’s truly lived. A tradition dating back to 1927, now carried on by hundreds of homeowners.

From classic Virginia red brick (as seen here), to Jefferson-inspired Palladian design, to storybook cottages and Italianate manors - the range is as refined as it is personal.

There’s something quietly extraordinary about a home that isn’t staged… just opened.

Save this for your spring itinerary… and follow for more places you weren’t meant to see 🤍
#virginiagardenweek #richmondvirginia #privatenewport #privateliving #fyp

privatenewport

Nothing here is accidental.

Set around a storybook-like stone cottage, often described as something out of Hansel and Gretel - this garden is just one of the many private homes opened during @historicgardenweek .

Where detail like this isn’t added… it’s expected.

Save & follow along for the kind of inspiration that’s hard to come by➡️🌳
#virginiagardenweek #richmondvirginiagarden #fyp #privatenewport #gardensofvirginia

View Instagram post by privatenewport

Apr 30

344 12
Open post by privatenewport with ID 18090018584242115
Nothing here is accidental.

Set around a storybook-like stone cottage, often described as something out of Hansel and Gretel - this garden is just one of the many private homes opened during @historicgardenweek .

Where detail like this isn’t added… it’s expected.

Save & follow along for the kind of inspiration that’s hard to come by➡️🌳
#virginiagardenweek #richmondvirginiagarden #fyp #privatenewport #gardensofvirginia

privatenewport

An outstanding botanical garden has always felt like the quiet measure of a great city… and in Richmond, that standard is met beautifully at @lewisginter

Founded in 1984 and now considered one of the top botanical gardens in North America, it has grown into an 82-acre oasis, complete with four lakes, fifteen distinct gardens, and conservatories showcasing plants from around the world.

But it’s in spring that it feels almost cinematic…
roses climbing effortlessly, peonies just beginning their debut, and the kind of blooms that stop you mid-step.

And of course, there’s always one..
that singular flower you didn’t expect to fall for.

(For me, it was this deep violet bearded iris… appropriately named Superstition.)

Even the smallest details feel considered here, pollinators drifting from bloom to bloom, the entire landscape quietly in motion.

A place worth returning to… perhaps even in winter, when the garden transforms for its famed Festival of Lights.

Save this for later - and send it to someone you’d wander here with 🌿
#lewisginterbotanicalgarden #richmondvirginia #botanicalgardensofvirginia #privatenewport #lewisginter

View Instagram post by privatenewport

Apr 28

192 13
Open post by privatenewport with ID 18262702786289214
An outstanding botanical garden has always felt like the quiet measure of a great city… and in Richmond, that standard is met beautifully at @lewisginter 

Founded in 1984 and now considered one of the top botanical gardens in North America, it has grown into an 82-acre oasis, complete with four lakes, fifteen distinct gardens, and conservatories showcasing plants from around the world.

But it’s in spring that it feels almost cinematic…
roses climbing effortlessly, peonies just beginning their debut, and the kind of blooms that stop you mid-step.

And of course, there’s always one..
that singular flower you didn’t expect to fall for.

(For me, it was this deep violet bearded iris… appropriately named Superstition.)

Even the smallest details feel considered here, pollinators drifting from bloom to bloom, the entire landscape quietly in motion.

A place worth returning to… perhaps even in winter, when the garden transforms for its famed Festival of Lights.

Save this for later - and send it to someone you’d wander here with 🌿
#lewisginterbotanicalgarden #richmondvirginia #botanicalgardensofvirginia #privatenewport #lewisginter

privatenewport

You would never guess where this is…

For one elegant week each spring, homes like this quietly open their doors to the public.

It’s called Historic Garden Week in Virginia, a long-standing tradition by the Garden Club of Virginia, where private estates and gardens are revealed… just briefly.

The kind of access that feels almost impossible now💫

Save this, it only happens once a year🌳
#privatenewport #richmondvirginia #gardenweek #gardensofvirginia #gardensofrichmond

View Instagram post by privatenewport

Apr 27

1845 39
Open post by privatenewport with ID 18093916601151379
You would never guess where this is…

For one elegant week each spring, homes like this quietly open their doors to the public.

It’s called Historic Garden Week in Virginia, a long-standing tradition by the Garden Club of Virginia, where private estates and gardens are revealed… just briefly.

The kind of access that feels almost impossible now💫

Save this, it only happens once a year🌳
#privatenewport #richmondvirginia #gardenweek #gardensofvirginia #gardensofrichmond
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Bettie's Faves

  • Charlotte Moss
  • La Dolce Vita
  • My Beautiful Paris
  • The Enchanted Home
  • The Glam Pad
  • The Lush List
  • The Potted Boxwood
  • Vicki Archer
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