The Breakers still reigns as the most iconic Gilded Age mansion in Newport. Built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II between 1893 and 1895, this seventy room Italian Renaissance palace showcases extraordinary craftsmanship, exuberant decoration, and a dramatic seaside setting. In 2025, these ten vantage points inside and out continue to amaze visitors.
1. The Gates
The experience begins at the monumental wrought iron gates on Ochre Point Avenue. After a five hundred thousand dollar restoration completed in May 2025, they gleam once again thanks to sandblasting, a zinc thermal spray, and a marine grade paint system. The sight is ceremonial as well as imposing, signaling the grandeur beyond.
2. The Front Exterior
Architect Richard Morris Hunt gave the mansion an exterior clad in Indiana limestone, recalling the palatial villas of Genoa and Turin. Arches, columns, and balustrades rooted in Roman classicism announce that this was never just a summer cottage; it was a statement of wealth and cultural ambition.
3. The Great Hall
The Great Hall rises 50 feet and was conceived as an indoor evocation of an Italian open air courtyard. Light floods the space through large arched openings, while marble statuary and portraits line the perimeter. Gilded moldings, polished stone surfaces, and gilt bronze chandeliers amplify the sense of ceremony, creating a monumental introduction to the opulence that unfolds in every adjoining room.
4. The Billiards Room
Here, rich materials and clever symbolism play together. Cipollino marble bands alternate with rose pink alabaster, and the ceiling is covered in marble mosaics. Near the cornice, small round plaques suggest billiard balls alongside acorns, the Vanderbilt emblem. The original table by William Baumgarten & Co. of New York still anchors the room, an elegant centerpiece in a chamber inspired by ancient Roman baths.
5. The Dining Room
At roughly two thousand four hundred square feet, the dining room ranks among the largest formal dining spaces in Newport. Twelve rose alabaster Corinthian columns form a stately ring that supports a gilded cornice. Above, a fresco shows Aurora ushering in dawn. Two massive Baccarat crystal chandeliers, wired for both gas and the mansion’s early electrical system, cast light over a thirty four seat oak table and walls that shimmer with twenty two carat gold leaf.
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6. The Music Room
The oval Music Room arrived from Paris in pieces. Jules Allard & Sons built it in France, disassembled it, shipped it across the ocean, and reassembled it in Newport. Silver and gold panels, a Campan marble fireplace, and an oval frieze listing great composers create a setting that once hosted intimate recitals as well as extravagant masquerade balls.
7. The Library
Cornelius Vanderbilt II wanted a working retreat, not just a showpiece. The Library delivers that atmosphere. Circassian walnut paneling, stamped with gold, lines the walls. Above the wainscoting, green Spanish leather embossed with gold adds luxe texture. The fireplace mantel, brought from a sixteenth century château in Arnay-le-Duc, Burgundy, provides historic gravitas. The result is a room that feels both scholarly and opulent.
8. The Lower Loggia
Step through to the ocean side and you enter the lower loggia, finished like a garden pavilion in an Italian villa. A barrel vault glitters with thousands of marble tesserae depicting dolphins, garlands, and the Vanderbilt acorn. Crafted by European mosaicists, this sheltered passage serves as a ceremonial threshold to the lawn and the Atlantic beyond.
9. The Upper Loggia
Directly above, the second floor loggia was the family’s breezy summer living room. Facing east, it welcomed morning light and steady sea breezes. Faux marble walls and a trompe l’œil ceiling painted with striped canopies against a blue sky complete the illusion of an open terrace, even on days when weather kept everyone indoors.
10. The Great Lawn
The back lawn sweeps toward the ocean, offering an unobstructed horizon that inspired the mansion’s name. The estate encompasses roughly thirteen acres, and this stretch of green was the setting for countless garden parties and leisurely afternoons. Even now, standing at the edge of the grass and watching waves crash against the rocks, you feel how the house and its landscape were designed to frame the sea.
More than a century after completion, The Breakers still astonishes. Whether you pause beneath the freshly restored gates, climb the grand staircase, or gaze out across the lawn to the Atlantic, each view underscores the enduring drama and elegance of America’s Gilded Age.
