NRF promotes and invests in the architectural heritage of the Newport community, the traditional building trades, and Doris Duke’s fine and decorative arts collections, for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of all.
As a leader in the preservation of early American architecture, NRF supports research and education in areas directly related to its collections and issues of critical concern to the field of historic preservation.
Visit Doris Duke’s art-filled mansion and enjoy panoramic ocean views from the extensive grounds. Open late March to November.
The Vernon House is a site for expansive story-telling, contemporary dialogue, and preservation trades skill-building.
Newport Restoration Foundation holds one of the largest collections of period architecture owned by a single organization anywhere in the United States.
Celebrate excellence in historic preservation efforts within the City of Newport, Rhode Island.
Live amidst history by renting one of our many historic properties.
Rough Point Museum was the Newport home of heiress, collector, and philanthropist Doris Duke (1912-1993). Experience Doris Duke’s life and legacy through the house, the fine and decorative arts and fashion collections, and a historic landscape with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean.
We look forward to welcoming you safely onsite for a self-guided experience at Rough Point.
During Your Visit:
For inquiries about private tours, please contact visit@newportrestoration.org
Visit our online museum store!
The products of the Newport Restoration Foundation Store celebrate the life and passions of our founder, Doris Duke. We invite you to explore our curated collections—including unique, one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by our museums’ design, collections, and stories— exclusively available here.
Click here to start shopping from home or visit shopnewportrestoration.org.
2024 Operating Schedule:
Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm
Saturday-Sunday, 10am – 5pm
Closed Mondays
BUY TICKETS
Museum Tickets General Admission: $20.00 Students with ID: $10.00 Children 12 & under: Free
Newport County Residents: Free (general admission)
Rough Point is a Blue Star Museum.
680 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 401–847–8344 visit@newportrestoration.org
Parking is available onsite. The house is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.
Portrait of Lady Fitzroy, nee Mundy by Hoppner
Portrait of James Buchanan Duke by John Da Costa
Beauvais tapestry with the arms of France and Navarre
Cigar storage case
Portrait of Charles, Prince of Wales, later Charles II, by Van Dyck
Portrait of a Young Woman by Bol
Doris Duke’s parents purchased this Hoppner painting in 1923 to add to their collection of other Hoppner portraits (two in this room and two on the Main Staircase).
James Buchanan Duke (1856-1925) was the father of Doris Duke and benefactor of Duke University. The Duke fortune came from tobacco and electric power. A similar portrait hangs in the Duke University Library alongside a posthumous portrait of his father, Washington Duke, James B. Duke's father. Both this and the Duke Library portrait were commissioned to commemorate the creation of the Duke Endowment, a $40 million donation made by James B. Duke in 1924. This gift supported several North Carolina colleges, including Trinity College in Durham, which would later be renamed Duke University after Washington Duke.
According to the records of the Beauvais manufactory, this tapestry was woven between September 1740 and May 1741. The design is based on a painting by Francois Boucher now in the Palais de Justice in Rouen, France, and it is the only version of the tapestry made from this pattern. Doris Duke bought the tapestry in New York in 1965 from the estate auction of Mrs. Alexander Hamilton Rice, whose Newport residence, Miramar, was just a few houses up Bellevue Avenue from Rough Point.
The Wilke Manufacturing Company also made refrigerators around the turn of the twentieth century that were covered in porcelain tiles, just as on this freestanding cigar case, which was installed in the kitchen by James Buchanan Duke when renovating Rough Point in 1922.
Portrait of a young Charles, Prince of Wales (1630-1685), in court costume. This is one of two paintings by Van Dyck, the court painter to Charles I that Doris Duke bought for Rough Point in 1963.
Ferdinand Bol studied in Amsterdam with Rembrandt from 1636 to 1641 and later became one of the most successful portraitists in The Netherlands. The sitter of this portrait is unknown. Doris Duke purchased the painting at auction in New York in 1971.