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
View our FAQs, map & parking, guidelines and more.
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.
With Philip Rylands, President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida, and former Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice
This lecture tells the story of Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979), one of the most fascinating and influential figures of the 20th-century avant-garde, remarkable for her collection of Cubist, Surrealist and Abstract art and for her patronage of Jackson Pollock.
Guggenheim belonged to the celebrated New York family of copper magnates. In 1921 she traveled to Europe where, thanks to her first husband Laurence Vail, she joined avant-garde literary and art circles in Paris. She opened a contemporary art gallery in London in 1938 and a year later began planning her own museum of modern art. The outbreak of World War II constrained her to return to the United Sates. She married her second husband, Max Ernst, and opened a now-legendary museum/gallery in New York called Art of This Century. When the war was over, she returned to Europe, and in 1951 fulfilled her ambition to open a museum, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Philip Rylands
Philip Rylands earned an art history Ph.D. from Cambridge University and has published books about the church of the Madonna dell’Orto in Venice (1976), Palma Vecchio (1988 and 1992), the history of the US Pavilion of the Venice Biennale (1993) and Peggy Guggenheim (2004). He has curated exhibitions, written exhibition and book reviews on art, and taught for several U.S. universities. From 1979 to 2017 he was Administrator, Deputy Director and Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (a branch of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation) in Venice. Since 2019 he has been President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida.
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
