Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Cottages on the cliffs.
An introduction to Ochre Point in Newport, Rhode Island, where The Breakers looks out over the Atlantic.
On this page
Read the house from the lawn
The Breakers stands on a 14-acre estate on the cliffs above the Atlantic, and is a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District.
A guide can give context without turning a neighbourhood into a backdrop. Notice how a house is placed to catch a view, how a lawn leads the eye to the sea, and how a building borrows from far-off styles. Respect private homes nearby.
Limestone, marble and steel
The house is built of brick faced with Indiana limestone, with steel and masonry chosen to resist fire. Inside, marble, alabaster, carved wood and gilding show the craft of the Gilded Age.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who carved a capital or gilded a ceiling, or the conditions in which they worked.
A Breakers chapter
The Breakers shows the scale of the summer houses that wealthy families built in Newport, modestly called “cottages”.
Look at the meeting of the two: a family’s summer retreat and a house built to impress.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the mansion’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their restoration or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
