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OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. From top: The Great Hall at Seaview Terrace. Library in the Newport, Rhode Island mansion. Seaview Terrace, Newport's largest privately owned Gilded Age mansion, sold for $16 million. House Dark Shadows Haunts Hunt Slonem D ark Shadows — the o r i g i n a l v a m p i re t e l e v i s i o n s e r i e s ( 1 9 6 6 - 1 9 7 1 ) — remains a cult classic and has been rediscovered by a wide swath of podcasters as well as Tim Burton, who paid homage in his 2012 film starring Johnny Depp. Part of Dark Shadows' allure was its spooky/spectacular setting: the sprawling Collinwood estate in fictional Collinsport, Maine. While the series' gothic-style interiors were ABC studio sets in Manhattan, Collinwood's imposing exterior came from real-life Newport. The opening credits eerily backlit a palatial façade with turrets galore — an indelible image that set the tone for the series, which burst into the mainstream after Yale drama school grad/classically trained Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid was cast as the 200-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins. Now the Dark Shadows manor, Seaview Terrace in Newport, stars in its own real estate saga — one spun around preservation and a celebrated artist, with a feel-good outcome. This January, the property made national headlines: "Newport's largest privately owned Gilded Age mansion sold for $16,000,000, marking the highest residential sale in the city since 2021, according to the Rhode Island Statewide MLS," shares Marielle Clair of Stay Newport RI Properties, who represented the seller. Besides its Dark Shadows association and the grandeur of the 43,000-square-foot, seven- acre French Renaissance Revival estate from 1925 — which has 29 bedrooms, 18 baths, and such details as a 15th-century fresco above the grand staircase; 16th- century stained-glass windows, reportedly from Milan Cathedral; the 40-foot-tall Great Hall with whispering gallery; solarium; drawing room; and private chapel — Seaview Terrace is commanding attention because of its new owner. This queen of Newport cottages was acquired by New York artist Hunt Slonem, the museum-collected painter of flora and fauna (birds, bunnies, and butterflies) who is also renowned for his portfolio of opulent and important historic properties. Slonem officially closed on Seaview Terrace on January 16. In keeping with his propensity for ghostly properties, there may be apparitions involved: The estate has the reputation of being Rhode Island's most haunted house and the subject of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Nation investigations. Seaview Terrace was born from two palatial residences joined together by Old Crow liquor magnate Edson Bradley Jr. for his wife, Julia Williams Bradley, on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. Mrs. Bradley passed away four years after moving to her dream house; to this day, she's reported to make ethereal appearances, playing the chapel's organ. This is a spectral rendezvous made in heaven, as Slonem is often in communication with the spirit realm and never averse to taking on the challenges of living where presences of the past hold court. "I've been coming to Newport since I was a ALL IMAGES COURTESY MARIELLE CLAIR / STAY NEWPORT, RI PROPERTIES (Continued on page 62) 16