Sunnycroft // 1873

Sunnycroft in Newport was built in 1873 as the summer cottage for Philadelphia socialite couple Elizabeth K. Ashhurst Willing and her husband Richard Willing on land given to them by Elizabeth’s father William. The house is a blending of Gothic and Stick styles, with half-timbering and bracing across wall surfaces and bargeboard at the eaves. By the turn of the 20th century, the house was owned by Henry Casimir DeRham and his second wife, Georgiana. DeRham was the grandson of a wealthy New York banker of the same name. This house (while still ornate) is a more modest example of the summer cottages in Newport and shows the wide-range of tastes seen in the Gilded Age.