Newport Mansion doors open once again

Photo, top: The Marble House

Starting Memorial Day weekend, The Preservation Society of Newport County will have more of its properties open than at any time since the autumn of 2019, before the COVID pandemic began.

The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms, Rosecliff and Green Animals Topiary Garden are open daily, including holidays, starting Friday, May 27. Interior house tours are self-guided using the free Newport Mansions audio tour app that visitors can download to their mobile devices.

Starting May 28, Chateau-sur-Mer will be open Saturdays and Sundays. The Chateau-sur-Mer house tour will be self-guided using a printed guide, and the Landscape Tour will be available through the Newport Mansions app.

“Getting to this point has been a long climb back from the pandemic that started more than two years ago,” said Trudy Coxe, CEO and Executive Director of the Preservation Society. “We were the first museum in Rhode Island and one of the first in New England to reopen after the shutdown of spring 2020. But we have not yet had six of our 11 historic properties open at the same time.

“It feels great to be opening so many doors again, and we are sure the demand will be there,” Coxe said. “We are looking forward to a very busy summer.”

In addition, a seventh property, Kingscote, will open Saturdays and Sundays from June 4-June 26. Guided tours will be offered several times throughout the day. Tours are limited to 12 persons and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Coinciding with the opening of Rosecliff on May 27 was the debut of the new exhibition “Anything You Want: A Closer Look at Treasures from Newport’s Gilded Age” in the second-floor galleries. The exhibition showcases more than 100 objects from the Preservation Society’s collections and is free with admission to Rosecliff. The exhibition will be open through Oct. 30.

Please see www.newportmansions.org/explore for information about the individual properties, and check the Operating Schedule under www.newportmansions.org/plan-a-visit for hours and other details.

The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island, is a nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the area’s historic architecture, landscapes, decorative arts and social history. Its 11 historic properties – seven of them National Historic Landmarks – span more than 250 years of American architectural and social development.

For more information, please visit NewportMansions.org.