Photo courtesy Gustave White Sotheby's International Realty
The Wildacre estate at 310 Ocean Ave. in Newport.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Wildacre, a Newport estate at 310 Ocean Ave., was sold Tuesday by Campbell Soup heiress Dorrance Hamilton for $14 million.
The 14-room, 8,180-square-foot mansion had been listed for sale in September 2012 for $15.75 million. The estate was built in 1902 for Albert H. Olmsted, the brother of famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York City's Central Park.
The sale price is the second-highest achieved so far this year for a single-family residence in Rhode Island, after singer Taylor Swift's $17.75-million purchase in April of a mansion on Watch Hill in Westerly. Hamilton's wealth has been estimated at $1 billion by Forbes magazine.
Gustave White Sotheby's International Realty, of Newport, handled both sides of the transaction. Michelle Kirby represented Hamilton, and David Huberman represented the buyer, identified only as Ocean 310 LLC.
Huberman was also involved in the December 2012 sale of the Hopedene estate in Newport, which, at $16 million, was Rhode Island's top sale in 2012.
Wildacre was designed by Irving Gill, a California-based early modern architect, and the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. A Shingle-style with Asian and Arts and Crafts elements, the house has steep peaks and gables and a secluded location near granite outcroppings overlooking Price's Neck Cove and the Atlantic Ocean. The house has seven bedrooms, six full bathrooms, and one half bath.
Hamilton restored Wildacre after buying it in the late 1990s. A private dock was added, along with new terraces, stone walls and a new infinity-edge swimming pool. The property also includes a greenhouse and a guest house. Hamilton's 1998 restoration effort was honored with a historic preservation award from the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission.