Fairholme -Newport, R.I.

Newport, RI Melanie Delman of Lila Delman Real Estate International brokered the sale of the 24,400 s/f Fairholme mansion, 237 Ruggles Ave. Delman represented the seller and facilitated for the buyer. The property, which is on 4.3 acres with ocean frontage, sold for $16.1 million, according to data from the statewide Multiple Listing Service. The seller was San Diego real estate developer Doug Manchester. The buyer is Fairholme LLC.

The 1875 Tudor revival, originally built as a summer cottage for Fairman Rogers, includes a grand Horace Trumbauer designed ballroom, 15 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, carriage house, greenhouses, tiled swimming pool and a cabana pavilion that overlooks the Atlantic.

The property was remodeled in 1905 by John Drexel. Under the Drexel’s ownership the home had many notable visitors including The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and President John Kennedy. Robert Young and his wife Anita O’Keeffe, sister of Georgia O’Keeffe acquired Fairholme in 1955. They had one daughter, Eleanor Young, who became one of the much-publicized “Glamour Debutantes” of the Great Depression -era.