The Breakers (Newport, Rhode Island)

USA / Rhode Island / Newport / Newport, Rhode Island / Ochre Point Avenue, 44
 museum, estate (manor / mansion land), NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1895_construction, U.S. National Historic Landmark
The Breakers (1893 - 1895)
The Breakers is a Vanderbilt mansion located on Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a National Historic Landmark, a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, and is owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

The Breakers was built as the Newport summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy United States Vanderbilt family. It is built in a style often described as Goût Rothschild. Designed by renowned architect Richard Morris Hunt and with interior decoration by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman, Jr., the 70-room mansion has 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 $12 million (approximately $335 million in today's dollars adjusted for inflation). The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by sculpted iron gates and the 30-foot (9.1 m) high walkway gates are part of a 12-foot-high limestone and iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The 250 × 120 ft (76 × 37 m) dimensions of the five-story mansion are aligned symmetrically around a central Great Hall.

As the previous mansion on the property owned by Pierre Lorillard IV,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Lorillard_IV, burned during 1892, (see www.thehistorybox.com/ny_city/society/articles/nycity_s... for a magnificent description of the original cottage, courtesy NYT 1878), Cornelius Vanderbilt II insisted that the building be made as fireproof as possible and as such, the structure of the building used steel trusses and no wooden parts. He even required that the furnace be located away from the house, under Ochre Point Avenue; in winter there is an area in front of the main gate over the furnace where snow and ice always melt.

The designers created an interior using marble imported from Italy and Africa plus rare woods and mosaics from countries around the world. It also included architectural elements (such as the library mantel) purchased from chateaux in France.

www.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breakers
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakers
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   41°28'11"N   71°17'53"W

Comments

  • This is the largest of the Newport "cottages" and the most visited. It was built for Cornelius Vanderbilt in less than three years. It has been open to visitors since 1948. It was purchased by the Preservation Society in 1972 to assure that it remains open to the public. The wrought iron gates at the entrance to the estate weight 7 tons. The interior of the Grand Salon / Music Room was executed by the French cabinet makers Allard & Sons and shipped to the US.
  • best mansion in america
  • Made a day trip to Newport while vacationing on Cape Cod in Sept. 2009. Only had time to tour one Newport mansion so figured we would tour the best and The Breakers is probably it...awesome. Be sure to stroll the Cliff Walk..a concrete sidewalk that runs behind the mansions and next to the ocean.
  • The Preservation Society of Newport County has announced plans to building a welcome center at The Breakers commensurate with the property's stature as an internationally recognized historic house museum and one of the five most visited historic houses in America. http://www.thebreakerswelcomecenter.org/
This article was last modified 4 years ago