Newport County Sights

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The Breakers

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The Breakers Review

The 70-room summer estate of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, president of the New York Central Railroad, was built in 1895. Architect Richard Morris Hunt modeled the four-story residence after the 16th-century Italian Renaissance palaces. This mansion is not only big but grand—be sure to look for the sculpted figures tucked above the pillars. The interior includes rare marble, alabaster and gilded rooms, with open-air terraces revealing magnificent ocean views. Noteworthy are a blue marble fireplace, rose alabaster pillars in the dining room, and a porch with a mosaic ceiling that took Italian artisans six months, lying on their backs, to install.

    Contact Information

  • Address: 44 Ochre Point Ave., Newport, RI 02809 | Map It
  • Phone: 401/847-1000
  • Cost: $19.50
  • Hours: Jan.--Mar., daily 10--4; mid March--June, daily 9--6; July--Labor Day, 9--7; Sept.--mid-Nov. 9--6; mid-Nov.--Jan. 1, 9--5.
  • Website:
  • Location: Newport
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    Don't miss!!

    This is no doubt one of the best Newport mansions. To the person who rated this a one, well duh, if you go in the middle of July it's prime tourist season and it's going to be busy and you're going to have to wait for a tour thing--life isn't on-demand. Oh, and about the air conditioning too, they were built in the Guilded Age--long before air conditioning.

    Anyways, everything in this is gorgeous! I highly recommend going.

    by jules_loves_you, 1/29/09
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    No Tours Available

    We went on a Saturday in July and there were no tours available--NO TOUR GUIDES OR AUDIOGUIDES. They provided us a pamphlet that we read in 5 minutes. We walked out of there disappointed.
    We had a much better experience at the Elms, Marble House, and Rough Point. Rough Point was expecially nice because it was air-conditioned and was sited on the prettiest stretch of Cliff walk.

    by FlyingMaltese, 8/3/07

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