Our Mission to Boston Massachusetts : Senior Retreat to Newport RI, Breakers, Marble House, Cliff Walk, Topiary Gardens

Senior Missionary Retreat Newport, RI

Marble House in Newport, RI

Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt. It was a summer house, or "cottage," as Newporters called them in remembrance of the modest houses of the early 19th century. But Marble House was much more; it was a social and architectural landmark that set the pace for Newport's subsequent transformation from a quiet summer colony of wooden houses to the legendary resort of opulent stone palaces.

Watch a video about Marble House

Mr. Vanderbilt was the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who established the family's fortune in steamships and the New York Central Railroad. His older brother was Cornelius II, who built The Breakers. Alva Vanderbilt was a leading hostess in Newport society and envisioned Marble House as her "temple to the arts" in America.

The house was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported in contemporary press accounts to be $11 million, of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a 39th birthday present.

The Vanderbilts had three children: Consuelo, who became the 9th Duchess of Marlborough; William K., Jr., a prominent figure in pioneering the sport of auto racing in America; and Harold, one of the finest yachtsmen of his era who successfully defended America's Cup three times.

The Vanderbilts divorced in 1895 and Alva married Oliver H.P. Belmont, moving down the street to Belcourt. After his death, she reopened Marble House and had a Chinese Tea House built on the seaside cliffs, where she hosted rallies for women's right to vote. She sold the house to Frederick H. Prince in 1932. The Preservation Society acquired the house in 1963 from the Prince estate. In 2006, Marble House was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Sister Parker, Elder Trujillo, Sister Mestaes, Sister & Elder Winegar, Sister & Elder Bell

Sister and Elder Winegar from Fruitland, ID

Elder & Sister Parker

Heading toward the "Cliff Walk" on our way to the Breakers Mansion

Tour of the Breakers Mansion

The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn-of-the-century America.

Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. The Commodore's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899), became The Breakers dining room Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885 and purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport during that same year.

In November 1892, that house was destroyed by fire, and the next year Vanderbilt commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace it. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70-room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo inspired by the 16th-century palaces of Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures, Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed relief sculptures, and Boston architect Ogden Codman decorated the family quarters. Vanderbilt took several measures to reduce the danger of fire, including brick-and-steel construction and the placement of the boiler room beneath the lawn away from the house rather than directly under the building.

The Breakers was completed in 1895 and the Vanderbilt family first occupied it in the summer of that year.

The Vanderbilts had seven children. Their youngest daughter, Gladys, who married Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, inherited the house on her mother's death in 1934. An ardent supporter of The Preservation Society of Newport County, she opened The Breakers in 1948 to raise funds for the Society. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.