Operating Schedule
See which of the mansions are open and when. Search by date or month, or view the full year’s schedule.
Visitor Info
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Tours, Groups, Exclusive Experiences
Explore our various tour types to find what’s best for you and your group.
History of Newport and the Mansions
Founded in 1639, Newport was an important port city, a center of the slave trade, a fashionable resort and the summer home of the Gilded Age rich.
What was the Gilded Age?
The Gilded Age was a period of unprecedented change in America. Fortunes were spent on luxuries such as the lavish "summer cottages" of Newport.
Deep Dive into the Show
Learn about the people, places and events depicted in Julian Fellowes' popular historical drama series.
Current Members
Current members can see a full list of benefits and any information regarding Members Events.
Become a Member
We invite you to become a member of the Preservation Society today. In addition to joining an active community of preservation supporters and advocates, members are offered unlimited access to all open houses.
About Us
Our mission is to protect, preserve, and present the best of Newport County's architectural heritage. Learn more about us and our work.
Wind Farm Federal Appeal: FAQs
The Preservation Society of Newport County is appealing federal agency approval of two massive wind farms off the Rhode Island coast.
Personal Photography on the Grounds
Rent our museums for commercial photography & videography, TV production, and wedding photography.
Commercial Filming or Photography
Museum Rentals & Weddings
Host your wedding, rehearsal dinner, corporate event, or other celebration at our historic museums.
Many know the names of Carrie Chapman Catt, co-founder of the League of Women Voters, and Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, who held two suffrage conferences at her Marble House. Both were crucial to the suffrage movement that culminated with American women winning the right to vote in 1920. But what were these two women’s interest in the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and how did it affect women suffragists in the US? Learn more about the women’s suffrage movement, as well as Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a 16-year-old woman who played an important role in cross-cultural exchange and the crusade for women’s rights early in her life.
Dr. Cathleen D. Cahill
Dr. Cathleen D. Cahill is the Walter L. Ferree and Helen P. Ferree Professor in Middle-American History at the Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of two books and multiple articles. Her most recent book, Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement (2020), received honorable mention for the Armitage-Jameson Book Prize in Western Women's History and honorable mention for the Society for the Study of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era's President's Book Prize. She is currently working on a graphic history of Mabel Lee’s life and activism. Dr. Cahill has spoken at many venues including for the National Park Service, at the Library of Congress and the National Portrait Gallery. Her work has also been excerpted in Time, Ms. Magazine and The New York Times. She is an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer and the steering committee chair for the Coalition for Western Women's History. Photograph by Michael T. Davis
Reverend Bayer Lee
Since 2004, Reverend Bayer Lee (no relation to Mabel Lee) has been the pastor of the First Chinese Baptist Church in Chinatown, New York, the same church that Mabel Lee established in memory of her father at 21 Pell Street. He is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Columbia University Teachers College, where he received his Ed.D. in 2013. His research there was funded by a Fulbright Grant in 1993, and his interests include spatial memories and housing studies, Hakka and Taishan ethnographies, and the formation of New York City's Chinatown. A scholar of many interests, Reverend Lee has devoted considerable time to researching Mabel Lee and has spoken about her at several community and research forums.
Explore the underground systems that made this great house a marvel of technology for its time.
See and hear how the other half lived. This tour will highlight the stories of some of the men and women who worked to service the social whirl of Newport during the Gilded Age. *Sept. 1-Oct. 6, 10:30 & 3:30. Nov. 23-Jan. 1, 2025, 10:30 & 2:30.
For the first time in the 129-year history of The Breakers, the private third-floor family space occupied by generations of Vanderbilts is open for public tours. *Sept. 3-Oct. 14, offered twice daily at 1:30 and 3:30 pm. Starting Oct. 15, offered once daily at 1:30 pm.
Wild Imagination will explore the changing place of animals in the Gilded Age, a period that transformed how we view and treat the animal world, through more than 100 animal-themed artworks across a range of media.
Fans of HBO’s "The Gilded Age" will love this guide-led tour of locations in four of the Newport Mansions where the show was filmed. Tuesdays and Fridays only, September 3 through 27.
SOLD OUT
In an exclusive for our members, Director of Museum Affairs & Chief Curator Leslie Jones will give a wide-ranging update on the state of the Preservation Society's collections.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a 3,000-year-old tradition from China that celebrates togetherness. We invite you to a family program celebrating this festival on the grounds of Marble House and in the Chinese Tea House.
Save the dates for the 19th annual festival, featuring the Vintner Dinner, Sunday Brunch and tasty yet educational seminar experiences. Plus, special guest appearance by Jacques and Claudine Pepin!
Join us for a masterclass and tasting of Sonoma County wines and Kentucky whiskeys finished in French oak wine casks.
The perfect pairing: Fine wines from Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival sponsors and inspiring cuisine from the world-class chefs at participating local restaurants.
In this insider’s look at the Preservation Society’s new exhibition “Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age,” curator Dr. Nicole Williams explores the evolving relationships between Gilded Age Americans and their pets and wildlife, with a focus on Newport history.
Download our tour app before your visit and bring your earbuds.
Parking is free onsite at all properties except for Hunter House and The Breakers Stable & Carriage House, where street parking is available.
Answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.
Explore the 11 properties under the stewardship of the Preservation Society and open as historic house museums.
Partners in Preservation
