Operating Schedule
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Visitor Info
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Tours, Groups, Exclusive Experiences
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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
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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.
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.
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.
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-Sept. 30 10:30 & 3:30. The Elms closed after Sept. 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.
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.
This guided tree walk is a unique opportunity to learn about the Kingscote arboretum, hosted by the Preservation Society’s Director of Gardens & Landscapes, Jeff Curtis.
Join Curator of Collections Dr. Nicole Williams on a tour of our latest exhibition, "Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age."
What is spiritualism and how did it become popular in the Gilded Age? Learn more about the spiritualist movement and the beliefs it fostered about the spirits of the dead.
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.
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
