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At nearly 2000 square feet, the Music Room is the most impressive of the additions made to Rough Point in the 1920s—and fulfilled Nanaline Duke’s need for more formal entertaining room. In August of 1930, Nanaline presented her daughter Doris to Newport society during a debutante ball held in this grand space.

As an adult, Doris changed the room to fit her lifestyle and the ballroom became as space for music and art. She added the two sets of 18th-century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, which made for a particularly appropriate backdrop for the large-scale Chinese Export ceramics on display in the room.

One of Doris’s additions to the Music Room was the Steinway concert grand piano in the alcove on the wall to the left. Doris—a lifelong amateur musician—was fond of jazz music, and she was known to host musicians from the annual Newport Jazz Festival for informal jam sessions in this room.

Of special note in the Music Room is the Steinway concert grand piano in the alcove on the long west wall. A great fan of jazz, Doris would often host musicians who were in Newport for the annual Jazz Festival for informal jam sessions in this room. Her generous support of the performing arts and jazz in particular continues to this day as one of the four areas of focus for the national grant-giving programs of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

20 panels of hand painted Chinese wallpaper

Sunburst clock

Famille Rose covered jars with phoenix and cranes among peonies

Pair of musical automatons by John Henry Cox

“Grotto” style piano stool

12 armchairs and a settee with tapestry seats featuring Fables of La Fontaine

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