Vanderbilts, Astors, du Ponts, Drexels,Auchinclosses, and Berwinds — generations ofthem — crowded The Elms, one of Newport’smost elegant mansions, for the ball of the season.Evoking memories of the Gilded Age, footmengreeted guests in the brown velvet Berwindsummer livery as the melodic strains of a Gypsyorchestra played in the great hall. The Frenchneoclassical chateau was built by Philadelphia coalbaron Edward J. Berwind and his wife Hermoinein 1901 at a cost of $1.4 million ($22 milliontoday). Repair work doesn’t come cheap —restoration of The Elms’ garden and fountainsalone today cost $2.3 million, of which approximately$300,000 was raised at the benefit given forthe Preservation Society of Newport County.