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.
Accessibility
See specific information about access at each house and property.
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.
“Inside the Newport Mansions” Gilded Age Conversations
Noted historians and authors share their insights into all aspects of Gilded Age America in this monthly series of interviews with the Preservation Society.
Become a Member
We invite you to become a member of the Preservation Society today.
Premium Memberships
We invite you to join these exclusive levels of membership for patrons interested in enhanced access and benefits at the Preservation Society.
Current Members
As a member, you can enjoy unlimited general admission to our properties and do not need tickets. Simply bring your membership card for admission.
Membership FAQs
Membership gives you free, unlimited access to regular guided and audio tours at all Newport Mansions properties.
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.
The Frick Collection is undergoing its first major renewal in 90 years. This lecture reviews the painstaking process behind the scenes and previews what will be unveiled shortly.
Improved infrastructure and accessibility, along with new spaces for exhibitions, conservation and education, will give The Frick the resources it needs to serve its mission for years to come. Yet the heart of the project is a refurbishment of the original 1914 Carrère and Hastings house and the 1935 John Russell Pope addition. Silk damasks have been rewoven in Lyon and passementerie sewn in Paris. Rooms have been conserved and returned to their former glory. Stone sculpture and fountains have been restored.
When visitors return to the mansion, the rooms will be familiar but with a new glow. And for the first time, the intimate family rooms on the second floor will be open to the public. Learn what it takes to give a venerable institution a thorough renewal.
Ian Wardropper
Ian Wardropper has served as the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Director of The Frick Collection since the fall of 2011. After completing his Ph.D. at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, he was Curator and later Head of the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture and Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago for 19 years, until returning to New York in 2001 as Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Chairman of the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wardropper has organized more than 20 exhibitions in his specialties of European sculpture, earlier decorative arts and 20th-century design and decorative arts. He has taught art history at six universities and published numerous books, catalogues and articles. His most recent publications include European Sculpture, 1400-1900, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bernini: Sculpting in Clay, Limoges Enamels at The Frick Collection, and Riccio’s Oil Lamp, and the forthcoming publications The Fricks Collect, An American Family and the Evolution of Taste and A Design for Continuity and Change: The Frick Collection.
Explore the underground systems that made this great house a marvel of technology for its time.Starting September 2, offered at 10 am only.
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.Starting November 3, offered at 12 pm only.
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. Starting September 2, offered at 10 am & 2 pm.
This exhibition examines the mind, ambition and legacy of America’s Dean of Architecture, who shaped Gilded Age America not only through the buildings he created – including The Breakers and Marble House – but also through his ideas.
Offered every Saturday through August 30 at a different mansion each time. Stop by and get creative, and learn a little history, too! All ages and ability levels welcome.
This summer’s Traveling Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Garden series provide families and children a fun and creative way to connect with the Preservation Society’s properties.
The Preservation Society's Summer Lecture Series celebrates "The Great Gatsby," "The Gilded Age," antiques collecting, conservation and research, and the great tradition of coaching. Individual lectures are listed below.
Learn about the preservation work and research taking place on The Breakers third floor from Chief Conservator Patricia Miller and Textile Conservator Heather Hodge.
Learn how a sod maze inspired by English country gardens came to be on the lawn at Chateau-sur-Mer. Walk the maze (we won’t get lost) and then design your own mini version of earthwork art.
Calling all intermediate and above watercolor painters! Join Bill Lane, award-winning local watercolor artist, for a daylong plein air workshop at The Breakers.
Move and groove in the garden! Join us for an hour of movement and dance with an instructor from Newport Contemporary Ballet.
Two Preservation Society Fellows present results of their research during the past year, including the elaborate interiors designed by Jules Allard in our houses and the life, collection and influence of architect Richard Morris Hunt.
Have a tea party and learn about tea around the world, right next to the historic Chinese Tea House.
Come experience music for the whole family! Five wind instruments of Historic Music of Newport’s Gilded Age Orchestra will be introduced to the children and the sounds of ducks, cats and wolves will reverberate through the garden as a narrator tells Sergei Prokofiev’s story of "Peter and the Wolf."
Two Preservation Society Fellows present results of their work during the past year, including the A.H. Davenport furniture on the third floor of The Breakers and extensive research on the Preservation Society’s collections.
Learn what life was like for colonial kids at our colonial-era property. Since children in those times did not have TV or computers, they often had to make their own toys. Come try your hand at making colonial toys and pretend to live in the 1700s!
Our special guest for the annual John G. Winslow Lecture is acclaimed actress Christine Baranski, who will discuss HBO's "The Gilded Age" in which she co-stars, her connection to the real Gilded Age, as well as highlights from her career and her thoughts on the importance of the arts.
SOLD OUT
Tree education for kids! Learn about the different trees at Green Animals, how they grow and why they are important.
Learn about Hippodale the Papillon as well as different types of animals that lived in Newport during the Gilded Age. Please feel free to bring your favorite stuffed animal to join in the fun!
Learn what it takes to bring Newport’s tradition of Coaching Weekend to life and hear from a moderated panel of coaching experts as we kick off A Weekend of Coaching.
Kids practice becoming birders and learn about our local feathered friends, from cardinals to hummingbirds and sparrows to hawks.
Fans of HBO’s "The Gilded Age" will love this guide-led tour of locations in four of the Newport Mansions where Julian Fellowes' historical drama series was filmed. Fridays and Tuesday, August 15, 22 & 29, and September 2, 5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26 & 30
Join us for an unforgettable evening of dinner and dancing to celebrate Coaching Weekend in Newport.
Did you know the design of Isaac Bell House was inspired partially by Japanese architecture? Join us for this interactive introduction to Japan.
Have you seen our unicorn topiary? Well, the unicorn's fairy friends need your help! We will create fairy homes and experience the garden with a sense of wonder.
Grab your clubs for an unforgettable day on the greens at the Preservation Society’s Annual Golf Outing at Newport National Golf Club in Middletown, R.I., a challenging links-style course with views of the Atlantic Ocean and Sakonnet Passage.
Three days of fun and educational seminars, tastings, dinners and the fan-favorite Sunday Brunch await you at Rosecliff! Become a Preservation Society member and receive early access to purchase tickets before they become available to the general public.
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
