A visit to Newport is never complete without a visit to the Newport Mansions. Even if you’ve visited them before, there’s always something new to experience and learn, and the Preservation Society of Newport County invites you to join us this season for fascinating tours, exciting special events, and an opportunity to make lifelong memories in some of the most beautiful and romantic surroundings in the world.

Preservation Society Chairman Pierre duPont Irving, himself an avid mariner, says a visit to the Newport Mansions is a “must do” for anyone with an interest in yachting history.

For newcomers, a little background: The Preservation Society is a non-profit organization that operates 11 historic house museums, collectively known as the Newport Mansions. From the homes of a colonial merchant and leading China traders of the Victorian era, to the great Italian and French Renaissance palaces of the Gilded Age, the historic homes maintained by the Preservation Society span over 250 years of American architectural and social  history. The collection includes Hunter House c.1748, Kingscote 1841, Chateau-sur-Mer 1852, Green Animals Topiary Garden c.1860, Chepstow 1861, Isaac Bell House 1883, Marble House 1892, The Breakers 1895, The Breakers Stable and Carriage House 1895, The Elms 1901 and Rosecliff 1902. The Society also maintains the Arnold Burying Ground 1675, Rovensky Park 1959, and its own headquarters building at 424 Bellevue Avenue 1888. Seven of the properties—Hunter House, Kingscote, Isaac Bell House, The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House and Chateau-sur-Mer—are National Historic Landmarks.

“Newport’s proximity to the water was one of the ingredients that made it so attractive to the rich and famous of the 19th century,” says Irving, “and it became the legendary home of the America’s Cup. In fact, one of the greatest America’s Cup skippers of all time, Harold S. Vanderbilt, spent his boyhood summers at Marble House, and you’ll find many of his trophies and other memorabilia on display there.”

“Right from the beginning of America’s social development, Newport was considered a special place, and by the 19th century it had become a veritable laboratory for the greatest architects of their time,” says Preservation Society CEO and Executive Director Trudy Coxe. “These houses occupy a rich place in our country’s history, and the Preservation Society has the distinct honor of restoring, preserving and maintaining them as places where all Americans can enjoy an intimate and close-up look back at our collective heritage.”

More than 25 million visitors have passed through the magnificent gates and gardens of the Preservation Society’s properties over the past 25 years, coming from every U.S. state and dozens of countries around the world.

There’s something for everyone at the Newport Mansions. Enjoy The Elms After Hours, and experience what it might have been like to attend a summer evening cocktail party at this elegant French chateau built in 1901. Or learn about the life of a servant during the Gilded Age with The Elms Rooftop and Behind the Scenes Tour.