This Is Where Chelsea Clinton Is Getting Married
Chelsea Clinton is getting married on Saturday under a veil of secrecy in Rhinebeck, NY. Not secret enough, though: An insider provided us these exclusive photos of Astor Court—the palatial mansion serving as the venue—plus some inside information.
Photographs of the venue have been hard to come by in recent weeks. Two journalists were arrested last week at the estate for trespassing while attempting to snap photos, and a no-fly zone has been declared over the area tomorrow to insure that news helicopters don't hover above the festivities.
When the Daily Beast's Lynnley Browning attempted to take a peek through the gate, she was told to "get out of here" by one of the many Secret Service agents "crawling" over the estate, "all in Defcon 1-style security mode."
Our inside source, however, spent time at the manse in the weeks leading up the big event and took some photos while on the premises. (Concerned about getting into trouble for providing us the photos, our tipster placed black boxes over some of people in the pictures to conceal their identities.) You'll find images of the Beaux-Arts mansion's ornate interior (which was originally built by John Jacob Astor IV and designed to resemble Versailles)—along with the home's indoor pool and tennis court—below.
Our source also shared some bits of info about Clinton's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky, the son of Democratic bigwigs Edward Mezvinsky and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky.
The owners of the estate, Democratic fundraiser and former TV producer Kathleen Hammer and her husband, real estate developer Arthur Seelbinder, have been rushing to prepare the house and grounds in recent days. The work, which took several weeks to complete, involved repainting the entire mansion and installing new landscaping. Our source also tells us that a clearing near the house has been set up so that invited guests can arrive by helicopter.
The gallery of photos is below. A video slideshow can also be found here.