Operating Schedule
See which of the mansions are open and when. Search by date or month, or view the full year’s schedule.
Guest Information
View our FAQs, parking information, guidelines and more.
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.
Group Tour Information
Bring your adult or student group to tour the Newport Mansions at a discounted rate.
Group Visit Request Form
Please complete the request form and submit. Completing this form serves as a group visit request and is not a confirmed reservation.
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.
Americans’ relationship with animals transformed during the Gilded Age (1870-1914). With a focus on Newport history, the exhibition explores how this exciting, tumultuous period shaped the role of animals in our modern world. Exhibition was open August 30, 2024 – January 12, 2025.
In the late 19th century, Americans moved in large numbers from farms to cities, losing touch with a rural way of life and with the closeness to nature and animals that defined it. Nostalgia for a lost kinship with animals pervaded urban, industrial America. At the same time, many were encountering new, “exotic” species through a boom in foreign travel, marine exploration and imperial expansion. More everyday Americans enjoyed natural history pursuits like birdwatching. Pet keeping surged. And while captive animals thrilled spectators at zoos and circuses, which both had their heyday in the Gilded Age, activists launched the nation’s first animal rights movement.
Newporters played a vital, though often contradictory, part in these developments. They fought at the vanguard of the animal rights movement yet set the era’s fashion for furs and feathers as residents of its most stylish summer resort. Newporters pampered their pets but expanded industries like the railroads that ravaged wildlife habitats.
Wild Imagination brings together a menagerie of animal-themed artworks and other objects, from paintings, sculptures, photographs and fashions to fancy dog collars and sea creatures blown in glass. These pieces reflect profound and lasting changes in human-animal relations. They also reveal the individual stories of wondrous creatures that continue to capture our imagination.
In addition to items from the Newport Mansions collections, objects in this exhibition are generously loaned by the following institutions: Brown University Castle Hill Inn Columbus Museum of Art Harvard University Historic New England Maryhill Museum of Art The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home Museum at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Mystic Seaport Museum National Museum of American Illustration Newport Historical Society Newport Restoration Foundation New-York Historical Society New York University Trinity College
Cat in a Crate S.S. David (American, 1847-1898), c. 1887 Oil on canvas stretched around box Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio: Museum Purchase with funds provided by Loann Crane and the Derby and Howald Funds. 2019.026.
Loïe Fuller in Butterfly Gown Reutlinger Photography Studio (Paris, 1850-1937), c. 1898 Cabinet card Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art
Les Trois Amis (The Three Friends) Charles Chaplin (French, 1825-1891), 1887; Frame made by Jules Allard and Sons (French, active 1878-1907) Oil on canvas, oak and giltwood frame Bequest of Mrs. Harold S. Vanderbilt. PSNC.429.
“Tired! How Could I Be Tired, Cuckoo?" Illustration in The Cuckoo Clock Written by Mary Louisa Molesworth (British, 1839-1921) and illustrated by Walter Crane (British, 1845-1915) (London: Macmillan and Co., originally 1877), 1892 Ink on paper, cloth Gift of Ms. Elizabeth K. Misener. PSNC.12643.3.
The Spiders and the Flies (Caricatures of Jay Gould and William Henry Vanderbilt) Charles Kendrick (American, 1841-1914) for Chic (January 25, 1881), p. 8-9 Lithograph Watkinson Library's Division of Special Collections, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.
Portrait of Hippodale at Six Years Old Mariette Leslie Cotton (American, 1866-1947), c. 1910 Oil on canvas, giltwood frame Gift of Miss. Christina C. Anderson. PSNC.14388.
French Bulldog Figurine Émile Gallé (French, 1846-1904), c. 1890 Tin-glazed earthenware, glass Gift of Mrs. Alletta Morris McBean. PSNC.8631.
The Turkey Shoot (or New England Turkey Shoot) Julian Scott (American, 1846-1901), 1875 Watercolor on paper Gift of Mrs. Alletta Morris McBean. PSNC.8567.
Coffee Service Worcester Royal Porcelain Company (English, 1862-present), probably decorated by John Hopewell (English, 1834-1894), 1875-1879 Gift of Mrs. Alletta Morris McBean. PSNC.8550.1ab-.6ab.
Dactylometra, Newport, Rhode Island (detail) Unidentified Photographer, 1897 Ernst Mayr Library and Archives of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Explore the underground systems that made this great house a marvel of technology for its time. Tour times may vary. See the event webpage for details.
For the first time in the 130-year history of The Breakers, the private third-floor family space occupied by generations of Vanderbilts is open for public tours. Tour times may vary. See the event webpage for details.
The Preservation Society of Newport County is getting into the Spirit of 2026 with an insightful exhibition, theatrical performances bringing Newport’s Revolutionary history to life, programs for children and a series of lectures by leading voices in the field of American history and arts.
To mark the U.S. Semiquincentennial, "Revolution Reimagined: Evolving Stories from Newport’s Past" explores Newport’s vital role in the American Revolution through the lens of myth and memory. Exhibition is included with admission to Rosecliff.
Learn about our latest exhibition, “Revolution Reimagined: Evolving Stories from Newport’s Past,” with a guided tour led by one of the primary collaborators on the exhibition. Offered on select dates.
Mark your calendar for these fun, artistic and educational events this fall at the Newport Mansions!
Witches and vampires, angels and princesses, skeletons and superheroes, get ready! There’s big Halloween fun for the family at Newport’s biggest mansion.
This November, the Newport Symposium offers a series of lectures and tours examining the origins and legacy of art, architecture, landscape and design in the United States. Registration is now open.
Jeff Curtis, Director of Gardens & Landscapes, will provide a tour of the greenhouse and discuss how the work done there provides thousands of bedding plants and cut flowers for our historic properties.
SOLD OUT
A Newport Songbook brings Newport’s musical heritage to life through 19th-century performances, local composers and songs connected to the city’s theaters, salons and celebrated residents.
Newport County residents are invited to visit the Newport Mansions as our guests.
This outdoor spectacle of holiday lights will dazzle and delight you! The 13-acre landscape of The Breakers turns into a wonderland of color and light. Includes access to the lavishly decorated rooms inside the house. Open on select evenings through the season. Includes access to The Breakers interior during the same visit. *Timed admissions every half-hour from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. House and ground will close at 8:00 pm.*
A great Newport tradition! See the magnificent mansions of the Gilded Age dressed in their festive holiday finery. It’s the most spectacular time of the year at these awe-inspiring historic houses.
Looking for something new to put on your door this holiday season? The Preservation Society's Holiday Wreath-Making Workshop returns with plenty of unique ideas.
Learn how the magic of holiday decorating comes together at Newport's largest and most popular mansion. Tour will be offered on Thursdays, December 10 and December 17.
All Preservation Society members are invited to enjoy an evening of live music, food and good company! Tickets Available Now!
This exclusive one-night-only event at The Breakers features Skylark’s acclaimed musical retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, narrated by Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actress Christine Baranski.Member Tickets on Sale: October 20, 2026 Public Tickets on Sale: October 22, 2026
Join us for an elegant celebration filled with festive cheer, fine dining, and dancing in one of Newport’s most iconic settings.
Three days of fun and educational seminars, tastings, dinners and the fan-favorite Sunday Brunch await you at Rosecliff! Save the Date: September 17-19, 2027
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
Morph Hospitality
Author, “Flavors of my World” & “Chaat” Two-time “Tournament of Champions” winner, “Chopped” judge, Food Network’s “BBQ Brawl”
CKD Productions & Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival Culinary Director
Author, “Beyond My Chef Coat” Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay” and “Great Food Truck Race,” “Today” Show, NBC “Celebrity Cooking Showdown” winner
Sparrow Restaurant, New Milford, Connecticut
Four time “Chopped” champion, Food Network’s “Tournament of Champions,” “Guy’s Grocery Games”
Sift Bake Shop, Mix, ATY Bar & Bonbons
Author, “Sift Cookbook” Best Baker in America, Food Network; Best Pastry Chef in Connecticut, Connecticut Restaurant Association; Food Network’s “Chopped Sweets” judge
