The original Malbone Hall was the country estate of slave trader Col. Godfrey Malbone, of Virginia, who had a pink sandstone castle built on this site in the mid 1700's. The architect was Richard Munday. Colonel Malbone had an underground tunnel built down to the sea from the castle so as to receive contraband goods without paying customs duties on them. One day in 1766, during a dinner party, the kitchen chimney caught fire, and the house burned to the ground. Colonel Malbone ordered dinner to be served in an adjacent building, seeing no reason why the party should be interrupted. "If I have lost my house, that is no reason why we should lose our dinners", he said. For a hundred years the castle lay in ruins until Mr. Hall chose the site for the existing castle.
Later, I received E-Mail that said:
I enjoyed reading your Castle website and noticed that my home Malbone Castle in Newport, RI was listed among your extensive listings. For updated information on the restoration of Malbone Castle please visit www.malboneestate.com
Best regards,
James Leach
Back to Home Page
Picture and information courtesy of Phil Bilzor.