The Breakers, Newport

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The Breakers is the largest and most magnificent of the Newport Summer house mansions. It was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1893 and has over 65,000 sq feet of indoor space along with a 13 acre lawn overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. if you visit only one Newport Mansion, this should be it.

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Built in 1893 by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, it is the most jaw-dropping of the Newport mansions. It has 70 rooms, most of which are not accessible to the public, and 65,000 feet of living space. It is the most visited site in Rhode Island. You have to take an audio guide on the tour. No pictures are allowed inside.

If you have time to visit one single mansion, everybody will definitely raccomend this one. The entrance fee is quite expensive (28 USD for one adult in summer 2011) but the mansion is really visit worthing and you get in that price the audioguide.

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The Breakers is Newport's grandest mansion. It was built during the 1890s by the Vanderbilt family, which controlled the New York Central Railroad and was one of America's wealthiest families in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Breakers is huge and ornate, and definitely worth a tour. It has 70 rooms, and its ballroom alone is 50 ft by 50 ft, with a 50ft ceiling. The first two floors are open to the public (the third floor, which contains additional bedrooms, is not).

Tours of the home start about every 15 minutes during the day. Visitors are also able to tour the grounds around the mansion.

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This is usually everyone's favorite. The Breakers was the summer house of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II (NY Central Railroad President). The house sits right on the water and has breathtaking views. There are seventy rooms at the Breakers and each one has it's own charm and beauty. My favorite areas are the Great hall, Morning Room and terraces. The marble and guilded wood is incredible to see.

I have been here the morning after Christmas to see the poinsettia tree. Have also seen it a couple years later in mid December so anytime in the Christmas season should work.

I do enjoy going back time and time again.

**During the Holiday Season they allow you to photopgraph the Christmas Tree in the main hall only. No other pictures are allowed.**

I have a thing for dipping into this life of over-abundant luxury. First, the gold-coast mansions of Long Island introduced me to this interest, next I headed to the casles of Germany and finally I witnessed cavernous spaces overdone with Italian Renaissance style. Overdone isn't meant to carry negative connotations, this summer cottage of Cornelius Vanderbilt II is an intriquing sight. The attention paid to detail far exceeds what I have investigated in LI mansions and actually hold a bright light to the whimsy creations of Ludwig in Germany. Set high up on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic, this retreat sits bold but finished with taste abound. A tour guide will take you on an hour long endeavor through many of the main quarters, but only after paying a hefty entry fee of $15.00

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Known as the "Gilded Age", this was a time when Newport gleamed with opulance and overabundance. Here we see The Breakers, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt around the 1880's. It sits on 13 acres overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The tour will take you to many of the rooms in the house, including the wonderful kitchen....and is well worth the price of admission. It's amazing to think of this as a "summer cottage", but that is, in fact what it was. EVEN THO IT HAS 70 ROOMS!!!
National HIstoric Landmark

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Here is a little overview of the Breakers and the Marble House. I first present the aerials and the pics of the grounds... the mansions themselves are on other tips.
As you can see...their location is spectacular on the ocean.

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The "Grandest" of all the "cottages" in Newport, the Breakers was the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt who had established the family wealth in steamships and then railroad.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II purchased a small cottage called the Breakers and commissed Richard Morris Hunt to design the new Breakers after a fire destroyed the original cottage.

The Breakers is a beautiful 70 room Italianite Villa overlooking the ocean with a wonderful two floor Loggia which is upon during the summer. Photographs are allowed in this area of the Breakers.

Gladys, the youngest daughter of Cornelius inherited the house after her mother's death and an in 1948 to raise funds for the Historical Society opened the Breakers. According to my research, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs in 1972 and is designated a National Historic Landmark.

The Breakers is a beautiful example of the wealth and excess of the time.

There are guided tours and photographs are allowed in certain designated areas. Please check their website for times and schedules of each home as this changes throughout the season.

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The 13 acre Breakers Estate was built as the Newport summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy United States Vanderbilt family. Designed by renowned architect Richard Morris Hunt and with interior decoration by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman, Jr., the 70-room mansion boasts approximately 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m²). of living space. The home was constructed between 1893 and 1895 at a cost of more than seven million dollars (approximately $150 million in today's dollars adjusted for inflation).