National Historic Landmark

Breakers, The

Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island
Listed
September 9, 1971
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
71000019

About this property

The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mansion, with a gross area of 138,300 square feet (12,850 m2) and 62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m2) of living area on five floors, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Renaissance Revival style; the interior decor was by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman Jr. The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by baroque forged wrought iron gates, and the 30-foot-high (9.1 m) walkway gates are part of a 12-foot-high (3.7 m) limestone-and-iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The footprint of the house covers approximately one acre (0.4 hectares) or 43,000 square feet of the 14-acre (5.7-hectare) estate on the cliffs overlooking Easton Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It is also a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. The property is owned and operated by the Newport Preservation Society as a historic house museum and is open for visits all year.

Location

Newport, Newport County, Rhode Island
41.46957, -71.29667

Categories

ARCHITECTURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Ochre Point-Cliffs Historic District
Listed
0.3 mi
Sherman, William Watts, House
Industrial
0.4 mi
Chateau-sur-Mer
Early Republic
0.4 mi
Bellevue Avenue Historic District
Listed
0.5 mi
Rosecliff
Industrial
0.5 mi

Nearby Battles

British Occupation of Newport
1776Revolutionary War
1.6 mi
Battle of Rhode Island
1778Revolutionary War
5.3 mi
Battle of Rhode Island – Black Regiment Action
1778Revolutionary War
8 mi
Battle of Rhode Island (1778)
1778Revolutionary War
8.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Breakers, The listed on the National Register?

Breakers, The was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 1971.

What type of historic resource is Breakers, The?

Breakers, The is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Breakers, The a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Breakers, The has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Breakers, The?

The period of significance for Breakers, The is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Breakers, The?

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