The Breakers, Newport, Rhode Island
This is another Vanderbilt family design designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt.
The Breakers is one of Newport’s most impressive summer homes, constructed in the late 19th century when the scenic Rhode Island coastal town was the playground for the richest families in our country.
Inspired by the Italian Renaissance palaces of 16th-century Turin and Genoa, Hunt designed the 70-room mansion to include the lavish dining room.
It also includes freestanding columns and gilded cornice and contemporary talents like the Austrian-American sculptor Karl Bitter to create relief sculptures. It’s open to visitors year-round and is owned and run by the Preservation Society of Newport County.
