Private Newport - with Bettie Bearden Pardee

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In the Garden


A Trip Down Memory Lane

4 / 4 / 244 / 3 / 24

Sometimes we take a personal, sentimental tradition for granted, until a friend offers up, “you should do a blog on those!” The “those” is an annual calendar that I create… Read More

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Introducing Whimsy to the Garden

3 / 14 / 243 / 13 / 24

As March builds up to an Easter finale I’m thinking about whimsy, the Easter bunny, and new spring bulbs. Perhaps it is because I’m always of a certain mindset that… Read More

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Inspiration to Borrow from a Parisian Garden

2 / 29 / 242 / 29 / 24

March is upon us and that means opening the garden for the season. Just like a snap of the finger our thoughts turn to daffodils, lilacs, and tulips. Facing the… Read More

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A Brief Encounter with Snow

2 / 22 / 242 / 21 / 24

I shouldn’t say “surprise surprise,” for it is, after all, February… but with all the unseasonably warm temps I had begun to believe we might miss a snow this year.… Read More

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Hampton Court Gardens

10 / 25 / 2310 / 25 / 23

The first thing that might come to mind when you read “Hampton Court Palace” may be King Henry VIII and his unfortunate wives (of those six, Jane Seymour was the… Read More

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Horticultural Delights from Parterre, Part I

7 / 13 / 237 / 13 / 23

Newport has been very busy over the past two weeks, and Parterre has seemingly been at the center of the activities. June 23rd to 25th was the Newport Flower Show,… Read More

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Revisiting the Blue Garden

6 / 29 / 236 / 29 / 23

Newport has so many treasures, as I was recently reminded when taking houseguests around our town, sharing one lovely vision after another. It was the Newport Flower Show week and… Read More

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The Endearing Gardens of Little Compton

6 / 22 / 236 / 22 / 23

Seemingly a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of our City by the Sea, lies the quiet enclave of Little Compton. Last Saturday I joined my dear friend,… Read More

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Collector Earl’s Garden

6 / 15 / 236 / 15 / 23

As I put the finishing touches on my newly re-designed Woodland Garden, I’m reminded of how invaluable it is to visit other gardens. Observing how other gardeners garden and very… Read More

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Rhododendrons, the Floral Sirens of our City by the Sea

6 / 8 / 236 / 7 / 23

While we may have had many reasons the past few months to curse the weather, it has proven a boon to some plant groups (though sadly not summer’s hydrangeas…but we… 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

193 15
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

610 35
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

303 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

335 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

190 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

1830 38
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
Follow Bettie on Instagram

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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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