The Breakers

The Breakers
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
Interactive map showing The Breakers' location
Location	44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°28′11″N 71°17′55″W / 41.46972°N 71.29861°W / 41.46972; -71.29861
Built	1895
Architect	Richard Morris Hunt
Architectural style	Neo Italian Renaissance
Part of	Bellevue Avenue Historic District (ID72000023)
NRHP reference No.	71000019
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 10, 1971[2]
Designated NHL	October 12, 1994[1]
Designated NHLDCP	December 8, 1972

The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.

The 70-room mansion, with a gross area of 138,300 square feet (12,850 m²) and 62,482 square feet (5,804.8 m²) of living area on five floors, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Renaissance Revival style; the interior decor was by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman Jr.

The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by sculpted iron gates, and the 30-foot-high (9.1 m) walkway gates are part of a 12-foot-high (3.7 m) limestone-and-iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The footprint of the house covers approximately 1 acre (4,000 m²) or 43,000 square feet of the 14 acres (5.7 ha) estate on the cliffs overlooking Easton Bay of the Atlantic Ocean.^[3]

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It is also a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. The property is owned and operated by the Newport Preservation Society as a museum and is open for visits all year.