The Breakers facts for kids

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The Breakers
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property


Location	44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
Built	1895
Architect	Richard Morris Hunt
Architectural style	Neo Italian Renaissance
Part of	Bellevue Avenue Historic District (ID72000023)
NRHP reference No.	71000019
Added to NRHP	September 10, 1971
Designated NHL	October 12, 1994
Designated NHLDCP	December 8, 1972

The Breakers is a huge mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. It was built between 1893 and 1895. This amazing house was the summer home for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. He was part of the very rich Vanderbilt family during a time called the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was a period in American history (late 1800s) when some families became incredibly wealthy.

The mansion has 70 rooms and covers a huge area. It was designed by a famous architect named Richard Morris Hunt. He used a style called Renaissance Revival architecture, which looks like grand buildings from the European Renaissance. The inside was decorated by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman Jr..

The entrance has cool sculpted iron gates. A tall limestone and iron fence surrounds most of the property. The house sits on a 14-acre estate. It overlooks Easton Bay of the Atlantic Ocean from the Newport Cliff Walk.

The Breakers is a very important historical building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1994. Today, the Newport Preservation Society owns and runs it as a museum. You can visit it all year round!

History of The Breakers
Gardens and Outdoor Spaces
Inside The Breakers
The Breakers in Media
Gallery
See also

History of The Breakers

The main gate at The Breakers

Cornelius Vanderbilt II bought the land in 1885. There was an older mansion on the property, but it burned down in 1892. Vanderbilt then asked the famous architect Richard Morris Hunt to build an even grander house. Vanderbilt wanted the new house to be as fireproof as possible. So, it was built using stone and steel, with no wood in the main structure. Even the boiler was placed underground, away from the house.

The inside of The Breakers is incredibly fancy. Designers used marble from Italy and Africa. They also used rare woods and mosaics from all over the world. Some parts, like the fireplace in the library, were even bought from old castles in France. The whole house was finished in 1895.

The Breakers is a perfect example of the "Gilded Age" style. It shows how rich and powerful families like the Vanderbilts were. When it was finished in 1895, it was the biggest and most luxurious house in Newport.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II passed away in 1899 at age 55. He left The Breakers to his wife, Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt. She lived there for 35 more years, passing away in 1934. She then left the mansion to her youngest daughter, Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi. Gladys loved the estate, and her other children were not interested in owning it.

In 1948, Gladys rented the mansion to The Preservation Society of Newport County for just $1 a year. The Preservation Society bought The Breakers and most of its furniture in 1972. This was from Gladys's daughter, Countess Sylvia Szapary. The family was allowed to continue living on the third floor until 2018.

Today, The Breakers is the most visited place in Rhode Island. About 450,000 people visit it every year.

The building's exterior, surrounded by trimmed bushes

Gardens and Outdoor Spaces

The driveway is lined with beautiful oak and maple trees. These trees help make the mansion feel private from its neighbors. You can also find unusual trees like the Blue Atlas Cedar, which comes from North Africa. Trimmed hedges of Japanese yew and juniper line the walking paths.

The gardens also have other rare trees, like copper and weeping beeches. The south garden has a colorful pattern of pink, white, and blue flowers. The wide areas along the fence are filled with rhododendrons and mountain laurels. These flowering bushes help hide the grounds from the street. They give visitors a feeling of being in a secret, peaceful place.

Inside The Breakers

Basement Level

Laundry
Staff's restrooms

First Floor Highlights

Entrance Foyer
Gentlemen's Reception Room
Ladies' Reception Room

The grand Great Hall

Great Hall – This huge room is 50 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet high! Above each of the six doors are stone sculptures. They show human progress in art, science, and industry. You can see figures representing Galileo (science), Dante (literature), Apollo (arts), Mercury (speed and business), Richard Morris Hunt (architecture), and Karl Bitter (sculpture).
Main Staircase
Arcade

Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, II and her daughters, Gladys and Gertrude, having tea in the libtary at the Breakers Newport, Rhode Island

Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II (Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt) and her daughters, Gladys Vanderbilt Széchenyi and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, having tea in the library

The beautiful library at The Breakers

Library – The library has a special ceiling painted with dolphins, which symbolize the sea and being welcoming. The walls are covered in Circassian walnut wood with gold leaf. The fireplace came from a 16th-century French castle. It has a message carved into it: "I laugh at great wealth, and never miss it; nothing but wisdom matters in the end."

The Music Room

Music Room – This open room was used for concerts and dances. It has a gold and silver ceiling. The names of famous composers are written around the edges. The fireplace is made of Campan marble. Mr. Vanderbilt played the violin, and Mrs. Vanderbilt played the piano, which is a beautiful French mahogany piano.
Morning Room – This cozy sitting room faces east to catch the morning sun. It was used throughout the day. The walls have panels with platinum leaves and pictures of 8 of the 9 muses (goddesses of art and science). All the wood and furniture were made in France and then shipped to America.
Lower Loggia
Billiards Room – This room looks like ancient Roman buildings. It has large slabs of Cippolino marble from Italy on the walls. Rose alabaster arches add a nice contrast. You can see mosaics of acorns (the Vanderbilt family symbol for strength) and billiards balls.
Dining Room – This is the grandest room in the house, covering 2400 square feet. It has 12 tall rose alabaster columns. The ceiling shows the goddess Aurora bringing in the dawn with her four-horse chariot. A large carved oak table can seat up to 34 people. Two crystal chandeliers light the room with gas or electricity.
Breakfast Room – This room was used for family meals in the morning. It has a modified Louis XV style. The decorations are still fancy but not as over-the-top as the dining room.
Pantry – A special elevator called a dumbwaiter brought dishes from the floor above. The pantry also stored the family's silver. An intercom system helped the butler direct servants.

The kitchen

Kitchen – Unlike many kitchens at the time, this one was on the first floor but away from the main house. This helped prevent fires and kept cooking smells out of the living areas. It has a huge 21-foot cast iron stove. The work table is made of zinc, an early version of stainless steel. Ice from local ponds kept the food storage rooms cool.

Second Floor Highlights

Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom

Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom – This room was designed by Ogden Codman in the Louis XIV Style. The bed is made of carved walnut. Mr. Vanderbilt only lived in good health at The Breakers for about a year before he passed away.
Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom – This room is a perfect oval. It has many doors connecting to other bedrooms. Mrs. Vanderbilt had four closets because she might change her clothes up to seven times a day! This room was also her study. Hidden hallways allowed female servants to take care of laundry and clothes without being seen.

Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt's bedroom

Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt's Bedroom – Gertrude, Cornelius and Alice's daughter, was an artist. She later married Harry Payne Whitney. You can see some of her artwork in the room, like "The Engineer" and "Laborer." A portrait of her at age 5 hangs above her bed.
Upper Loggia – This open porch faces the Atlantic Ocean. It was used as a casual living room. In the summer, the glass doors could be opened to let in a cool breeze. The ceiling is painted to look like three canopies covering the sky.
Guest Bedroom – This room shows the Louis XVI style with its furniture and decorations. The wall panels have never been changed.
Countess Szechenyi's Bedroom – Designed by Ogden Codman, this room has a simple, elegant style with ivory and cream colors.
There are also two other rooms on this floor, possibly a nursery and a nanny's bedroom.

Third Floor

The third floor has eight bedrooms and a sitting room. The north part of this floor was for the servants. The architect, Richard Morris Hunt, made two separate third floors. This allowed for many servant bedrooms. This was needed because of the house's Italian Renaissance architecture style, which has a pitched roof. Other French-style houses at the time had flat roofs, which allowed for hidden servant wings.

In total, there are 30 bedrooms in the two servant quarters on the third floor. Three more bedrooms for the butler, chef, and visiting valet are on a special "entresol" floor. This floor is between the first and second floors, behind the main kitchen.

Attic Floor

The attic floor had more staff rooms and storage. It also held the house's innovative water tanks, called cisterns. One smaller tank provided water pressure for the 1895 Otis elevator. This elevator still works today, even though the house got electricity in 1933. Two larger tanks supplied fresh and salt water to the many bathrooms.

Above the grand staircase is a beautiful stained glass skylight. It was designed by artist John La Farge. This skylight was originally in the Vanderbilt's New York City townhouse. It was moved to The Breakers in 1894.

Building Materials

Foundation: brick, concrete, and limestone
Structure: steel beams
Walls: Indiana limestone
Roof: red terra cotta tiles
Wall panels: platinum leaf (for some mythological figures)
Other: marble (for plaques), wrought iron (for gates and fences)

The Architect: Richard Morris Hunt

The Breakers was designed by Richard Morris Hunt. He was one of the most important architects in the United States. This house is seen as a perfect example of American Beaux-Arts architecture. It was Hunt's last project and is one of the few of his works that still exist. The Breakers helped make Hunt known as the "dean of American architecture." It also helped define the Gilded Era in American history.

The Breakers in Media

The house appeared in the 1990 movie Reversal of Fortune. It was used as the Newport mansion of Sunny and Claus von Bulow.

The Music Room was used in the HBO TV series The Gilded Age (which started in 2022). This room was featured in the first season's final episode. It was the ballroom for the Russels' coming-out ball for their daughter, Gladys.