The Breakers. Cornelius Vanderbilt house

Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Breakers

Top choice in Newport


A 70-room Italian Renaissance megapalace inspired by 16th-century Genoese palazzi, the Breakers is the most magnificent of Newport's grandiose mansions. At the behest of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Richard Morris Hunt did most of the design (though craftspeople from around the world perfected the decorative program). The building was completed in 1895 and sits at Ochre Point, on a grand oceanside site. The furnishings, most made expressly for the Breakers, are all original. Don't miss the Children's Cottage on the grounds.

Admission includes entry into The Breakers' Stable & Carriage House, also designed by Hunt, on the west side of Bellevue Ave. The Preservation Society of Newport County also has an excellent value two-house ticket (adult/child $29/9) which offers entry into The Breakers and one other property under the Newport Mansions banner. For architecture buffs, a five-house ticket (adult/child $35/12) can't be beaten.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Newport attractions

1. Ochre Court

0.3 MILES

Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built in 1892, Ochre Court offers a grand view of the sea from its soaring three-story hallway. Elsewhere you can find…

3. Rosecliff

0.55 MILES

Built for Mrs Hermann Oelrichs, an heiress of the Comstock Lode silver treasure, Rosecliff was designed by Stanford White to look like the Grand Trianon…

5. The Breakers' Stable & Carriage House

0.6 MILES

Designed by Richard Morris Hunt of The Breakers' fame, this carriage house and former stables, which belong to their eponymous mansion, now house a museum…

6. Marble House

0.66 MILES

Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built in 1892 for William K Vanderbilt, the younger brother of Cornelius II, the gaudy Marble House – built of many…

7. The Elms

0.77 MILES

Designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1901, the Elms is a replica of Château d'Asnières, built near Paris in 1750. Here you can take a 'behind-the-scenes' tour…

8. Kingscote

0.98 MILES

An Elizabethan fantasy complete with Tiffany glass, Kingscote was Newport's first 'cottage' strictly for summer use, designed by Richard Upjohn in 1841…