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.
From Rosé with the Roses, to Jazz on the Lawn, we have something for everyone this summer at NRF! Rough Point Museum, Whitehorne House Museum, and Prescott Farm will offer a variety of free and ticketed programs for all ages and interests. Please mark your calendars for upcoming special events including:
Rosé with the Roses July 10 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $25 / Rough Point Museum Rough Point’s rose allée bursts into full bloom for a few days every July. Savor this brief and breathtaking event with a glass of rosé in hand. The museum’s exhibits and grounds will be open for strolling. Price includes admission to the museum and one drink ticket. Please note that this program is weather dependent.
Second Sundays July 14 & August 11 / 12:00 – 3:00 pm / FREE / Prescott Farm Community comes together to enjoy the largest public open space on Aquidneck Island. Each month NRF joins with a non-profit partner to highlight the expansive history and horticulture of Prescott Farm. Explore the nature trails with our guest guides, chat up URI’s Master Gardeners, or climb inside the historic windmill – themes, guests, and activities change monthly! July: Middletown & Portsmouth Historical Societies shed light on Prescott’s Capture August: Gray’s Grist Mill takes us from seed to Johnnycake
The Myth & Mystique of Doris Duke in Newport July 16 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $15 / Rough Point Museum Almost every Newporter with a long enough memory has a story about Doris Duke. Special guests, including former staff and friends, recount their experiences, and we hope you bring your own recollections to share at this casual event that examines the legends and lore of Doris’s time in Newport.
Creative Survival: African Artisans in Newport July 22 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $15 / Rough Point Museum Newport was the most active slave port in the British North American colonies, and many of the enslaved Africans who arrived here were placed into training in the artisan trades, including furniture making. This presentation by the 1696 Heritage Group will explore how these African craftsmen and women contributed to colonial Newport’s economic and cultural prosperity.
Jazz on the Lawn July 24 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $15; 12 and under free! / Rough Point Museum A night that celebrates Doris Duke’s lifelong affinity for jazz music. Join us for an evening of picnic blankets, ocean breezes, and soulful tunes that recalls the early years of the Newport Jazz Festival when Doris was known to bring musicians back to Rough Point for informal musical performances. Featuring Joe Albano and the Jazz Lords, this program will take place outside. In the event of rain, our alternate date will be July 31.
Ask a Gardener July 27 & August 31 / 11:00 – 11:30 am / Rough Point Museum Free with house or grounds admission. Tour the Rough Point grounds in the company of experts – once a month our estate gardeners share their expertise on a range of topics from plant identification to organic garden care. Get insider tips about how the Rough Point staff keeps the grounds looking lush and how to incorporate those practices in your own home garden. This program takes place outside and is weather dependent. Tours meet at the camels.
Creative Survival Installation July 29 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $20 / Whitehorne House Museum The 1696 Heritage Group takes over Whitehorne House Museum for one night only, telling the stories of the enslaved and free Africans who worked in the artisan trades in colonial Newport. Public historians Theresa Guzman and Keith Stokes lead this small group experience and invite us to see the museum and its furniture collection through the lens of African artisans and their contributions to Newport’s “Golden Age.”
Rough Point Plant Sale August 3 / 9:30 am – 12:30 pm / Rough Point Museum You’ll want to save some space in your garden for this sale! Our estate gardeners have culled over 400 perennials from Doris Duke’s historic gardens, and this is your chance to plant a little bit of history in your home garden. One-gallon, five-gallon, and baby plants already rooted in soil will be priced to sell. This program takes place outside and is weather dependent. A rain date is set for August 10.
Floral Design Workshop August 3 / 10:00 am – 12:00 pm August 22 / 3:00 – 5:00 pm $40; advance registration required / Rough Point Museum Take home a one-of-a-kind reminder of Rough Point’s gardens. Led by estate gardener and floral designer Alyssa Leach, this workshop is for novices and experts alike and borrows inspiration from Doris Duke’s historic flower gardens. Materials included, and participants will each take home a mixed arrangement of their own design.
The Myth & Mystique of Doris Duke’s Inner Circle August 8 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / $15 / Rough Point Museum Most people came to know Doris Duke through newspaper headlines and paparazzi images, but who did Doris count among her close friends and confidantes? While Doris’s name was connected to other celebrities like Andy Warhol, Imelda Marcos, and Jackie Onassis, those who knew her best are less well-known. Join us as we unveil the most intimate and influential relationships in Doris’s life.
Midsummer Celebration August 13 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / FREE / Whitehorne House Museum Celebrate the reopening of Newport’s furniture museum by picking out your new favorite piece of early American furniture or rediscovering the fun of Legos and Tinker Toys. Light refreshments provided in the museum’s colonial revival garden.
For information on all events, visit newportrestoration.org/events.
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Ever since I took on the post of Director of Museums, I have had to learn a lot of information about a lot of different things, from how to get into our offices at Rough Point without setting off the alarm, to an understanding of the life and legacy of Doris Duke. I have also spent a fair amount of time learning about the collection and interpretation of NRF’s museum at the Whitehorne House, which, when it reopens on May 29th, 2019, will be the world’s only museum dedicated solely to the craft, design, and social and cultural histories of 18th-century Newport furniture.
Learning about Newport furniture has become one of my newest passions. I have become fascinated by the design, construction, and history behind these exceptional works of American craftsmanship. I haven’t always felt this way. Like many of you, I had never really thought much at all about historic furniture, let alone been engrossed in learning about the craft and history behind it. But over the past few months, I have come to see that the Whitehorne House Museum’s furniture collection is filled with remarkable works from a world of design and consumerism that, despite their significant age (most pieces are about 250 years old or more), feels quite familiar to me, quite contemporary, and, perhaps surprisingly, relevant to the lived experience of 21st-century people. I get that readers may not see the ways in which Newport furniture and its creation and purchase are analogous to the behaviors of a contemporary consumer, but if you stick with me through this blogpost, I think you’ll see the connection. Let me explain through a brief exploration of feet. You read that right, feet.
The feet I’m referring to are, of course, furniture feet—the base of a piece of legged furniture, such as a desk, table, high chest, or chair. They are, quite literally, the lowest point on any work of furniture, so low and obscure that most of us don’t even pay attention to them. In fact, many pieces of furniture have no distinct feet at all. Their legs simply extend to the floor without a break. That is surely the case with the chair that I am sitting in as I write this piece, and it is equally true of most of the furniture in my office and my home. My office and home furnishings, however, are not works of 18th-century Newport furniture. Would that they were.
Feet on a piece of legged, 18th-century Newport furniture are frequently amazing works of craftsmanship and artistry in their own right. Some are delicately sculpted to look like a human’s foot inside of a slipper, while my favorite feet are intricately carved to look like the claw on a bird of prey clutching a ball.
This last form, the ball and claw, was, interestingly enough, influenced by the early development of a global, consumer economy, a phenomenon that, while not identical to our contemporary world, shares similarities with the consumer society that we live in today. In the late 1600s, China opened trade with select foreign traders, including those from England. As Chinese goods entered the English market, English craftsmen became familiar with a popular Chinese decorative motif, the dragon holding a pearl. Most scholars believe that this design informed the creation of the ball and claw foot. By the early 18th century, this Chinese-inspired, decorative motif became very popular in England, and since consumer tastes in England influenced consumer tastes in the British colonies in America, the ball and claw became a very popular feature in American furniture. By the mid-18th-century, the ball and claw was one of the defining characteristics of the Newport style of furniture.
It is worth noting that there is no structural advantage to the slipper or ball and claw foot. One might just as easily purchase a piece with no distinct feet at all and their furniture would stand just as well or poorly. Still, 18th-century Newport craftsmen took the time to carve such details, no small accomplishment since contemporary furniture maker, furniture historian, and NRF friend Jeffrey Greene tells me that this process could take four days or more in the midst of a tight, seven week production schedule. Greene further notes that the 100 plus cabinet makers who built Newport furniture in the 18th century were not artists, per se. That is to say, they did not carve such intricate details solely for the sake of personal expression. They were, instead, artisans, craftsmen of tremendous skill in a community of 300 or so interrelated craftspeople, all of who were trying to make a living creating products in a system of pre-industrial, commercial production. Naturally, appealing to consumer tastes was an essential part of their business practice.
The widespread distribution of such furniture in and outside of Newport makes clear that 18th century consumers of Newport furniture liked the intricately carved feet that came to characterize the Newport style. At the very least we can say that consumers of the period knew such carvings were in fashion and that they had an interest in appearing to be fashionable. As the historian Margaretta Lovell has observed, consumers of 18th-century Newport furniture, and guests who viewed such pieces in their neighbors’ homes, experienced a sense of admiration for the objects “in both senses [of the word]—straightforward pleasure…and covetous desire.”
This 18th-century desire for the fashionable over the merely serviceable is also one of the defining characteristics of our own consumer society. After all, what is the difference between the beautiful, but ultimately non-essential, ball and claw foot and the equally non-essential Gs on a pair of Gucci sunglasses or the trademarked red sole on a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes? Nothing, really. After all, the decorative Gs do not help to reduce the influence of the sun’s rays (or, as so often happens, keep you from losing your sun glasses) nor does the Louboutin red sole make it easier to walk in a pair of stiletto heels. Both products simply appeal to the consumer’s sense of or interest in the latest style and fashion, just like the ball and claw foot did in the 18th century.
Sort of…. After all, one of the notable differences between these 21st and 18th century examples of consumerism is the level of craftsmanship. While 21st century, machine-produced, high end brands may feature very fine construction in their own right, they surely cannot compare with the remarkable detail of hand carved ball and claw feet, which are a distinct and unique product of the individual carver. Indeed, as Jeffrey Greene notes in his fascinating book, American Furniture of the 18th Century, “No two makers carved feet exactly the same way, so an individual carver’s work was as unique as a signature.”
So what do we learn from this brief study of feet? I believe that we’ve learned about the development of an 18th-century global marketplace and its influence on style and fashion, as well as the growth of manufacturing and consumer sectors in and around Newport that were keenly aware of these developments and used them to guide their production and consumption choices. While these facts are not identical to our own consumer society—which includes a global production and distribution network and an ever-present advertising industry to instruct consumers on what is and is not in fashion and convince them that their mere wants are actual needs—they are similar enough that we as 21st century consumers can recognize them as familiar and somewhat contemporary. At least, that’s what I believe. What do you think? You can let us know on social media, or better yet, tell us in person at the Whitehorne House Museum.
I sincerely hope that you can visit us at Whitehorne House this summer to see some of our collection of 18th century, Newport furniture. The pieces on display are examples of extraordinary beauty, and, as I hope I’ve made clear, they have important stories to tell us about American history—from the history of colonial consumerism to the ways in which such beauty was indebted to the ugly and horrific colonial slave trade, to the integral role that family and kinship played in the production and sale of these works and beyond.
The museum season will run from May 29th to October 27th. Whitehorne House Museum will be open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Tickets will cost $15 for adults, $5 for students, and will be free for children twelve and under and for residents of Newport County. Visitors can purchase a combined ticket to visit Whitehorne House and NRF’s museum at Rough Point, the Newport home of Doris Duke, for $25, a $10 savings. Click here to plan your own visit today!
By Dr. Erik Greenberg, Director of Museums, Newport Restoration Foundation
Sometime during my first week serving as the NRF’s Director of Museums, our Marketing Manager suggested that I write an introductory blog post. I said, “Sure, in fact, I think I’ll write two, an introduction and something about my favorite room at Rough Point. And I should have both pieces to you in about two weeks.”
Perhaps the above anecdote gives you some sense of my excitement about serving as the Director of Museums for this unique and significant organization. Others might rightly see in the same story my ability to foolishly bite off more than I can chew. Nevertheless, I promised to introduce myself, which I really should do, so on to the introductions!
I am a public historian and museum professional with some twenty years of experience in the fields of museum education, public programming, departmental leadership, exhibition curation, and other forms of museum practice and historical interpretation. I hold a Ph.D. in American history from UCLA, and I have taught American history, world history, public history, and American Jewish history on numerous campuses across Southern California.
Undoubtedly, my deepest commitment as a scholar and museum professional is to the field of public history, which I would define as the practice of sharing scholarship and other historical practices (historical preservation, for example) with as broad a public as possible. I believe that a general understanding of the work of historians and others in the historical profession is vital to the foundation of a civil society, and I have committed most of my professional life to bridging the gap between working historians and the public. My commitment to public history is very much in keeping with the goals and programming of the Newport Restoration Foundation. Indeed, the Foundation’s mission statement makes clear that it does not simply promote preservation for preservation’s sake, but rather for the “enjoyment, education, and inspiration of all.” Whether you live in an NRF home, visit an NRF museum, or just observe our beautiful restoration work on the streets of Newport, you are learning or experiencing something about the past and the work of those who study and interpret history. Needless to say, I am thrilled to work for an organization that shares my interests and passions in such tangible and clear ways.
Prior to joining the NRF team, I worked the Autry Museum of the American West, an institution dedicated to the history and contemporary culture of the trans-Mississippi West (broadly construed). Over a nearly twenty year career at the Autry, I served as a museum teacher, a public programs manager, curator, and most notably as the Director of Education and Visitor Engagement. As I noted above, much of my practice revolved around making the work of academic historians visible and accessible to the general public, but I also spent a great deal of time building bridges between the museum and the diverse communities of Los Angeles. I instituted an award-winning program that empowered students from grades K-college to curate public history projects that ranged from student art exhibitions to the production of short films, plays, and beyond.
Early on in my career, I brought former gang members, representatives of the LAPD, and western historians to the table to discuss the history of violence in Los Angeles and the broader American West, and over the past decade, I have spent a great deal of time working with California’s diverse Native-American communities. I did so, because I believe deeply in the power of museums and other historical sites to serve as places of learning, engagement, and understanding. To be sure, the museums of the NRF are very different from the sites I worked at in Southern California, but I still believe they have the power to educate, engage, and unite individuals and communities, and I look forward to exploring how we might achieve those ends in Newport and Southern New England.
In addition to my work at the Autry, I have also spent much of the past twenty years doing consultation work for other institutions, pursuing and completing my Ph.D., and teaching in the university classroom (still more examples of my willingness to bite off more than I can chew).
Twenty years is a long time to work at and in one place, but I found the Autry and the scholarly community of Southern California to be a valuable and nurturing training ground and a supportive environment in which to pursue my public history practice. It really took the prospect of working somewhere as special and valuable as the Newport Restoration Foundation to get my wife and I to pick up stakes and move across the country, but we are delighted to be here, and I am thrilled to be the Foundation’s Director of Museums.
To be clear, I am not a complete stranger to the Northeast or New England. I was born in Mt. Auburn Hospital up in Cambridge, MA more years ago than I care to admit, and I was raised in suburban New York, where I lived until 1987. So my new position and new location represent a kind of homecoming for me. There is much in my return to the Northeast that I have found very familiar and very comforting. Yes, I will have to get used to the winter cold again, but I appreciate the eastern greenery (made possible by regular precipitation) as well as the access to real pizza. I look forward to experiencing four seasons (in LA there are only two—hot and less hot with a little rain). I enjoy hearing New England accents. And I appreciate living closer to my family in New York. I will admit that as a New York Giants fan I find it tough to be surrounded by so many Patriots jerseys, but that’s a small price to pay for joining such a wonderful institution and working with such a talented and committed staff.
Those of you who read these blogs will read more from me from time to time (Remember that second blogpost? I still have to write it…), but the truth is that I would rather meet you in person at one of our museums. So when the season begins, please come to Rough Point, Whitehorne House Museum, or Prescott Farm. You might find me walking around. In fact, I spent most of my first Friday morning on the job walking the grounds of all three sites, and I loved it! If you would really would like to meet me, send me an e-mail and let me know you’re coming. I will do my best to find the time to say hello. You can reach me at Erik@newportrestoration.org
See You in Newport!
By Erik Greenberg, Ph.D., Director of Museums, Newport Restoration Foundation
This October officially marks the 50th anniversary of the Newport Restoration Foundation, so we’re opening our doors to the community with special events, including FREE admission to Rough Point on October 24 to celebrate our Golden Birthday. This entire year we’ve been looking back at — and sometimes reviving — what Doris Duke and others were up to around the time of its founding. Please mark your calendars for special events across all of our museum locations including:
Newport Schools Night Rough Point September 19 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm / Free
Tucked all the way at the end of Bellevue, Rough Point is easy to miss. All Newport K-12 students and their families are invited to visit Doris Duke’s eccentric home for a night of fun and exploration. The museum and grounds will be open for strolling. Lawn picnics and #camelgrams encouraged. All ages welcomed. Ages 18 and under are free, and adults admitted free if accompanied by a K-12 student. Otherwise, general admission is $10.
A Closer Look at Designing for Doris, Curators Tour & Open House Rough Point September 20 / 4:30 – 7:00 pm / Free
David Webb archivists Dianne Batista and Levi Higgs will explore the intersecting interests of David Webb and Doris Duke in this special tour of Designing for Doris: David Webb Jewelry and Newport’s Architectural Gems. The tour will touch on the curatorial process and the commitment to beauty and design that drew two creative minds together. Tours will be held at 4:30, 5:30 & 6:30 (advance registration required). Light refreshments served at the open house to follow, which is free and open to the public. This is a Design Week RI event.
Ask a Gardener Rough Point September 29 & October 27 / 11:00 am, weather permitting Included with admission to the house or grounds
Every last Saturday of the month, estate gardeners share their expertise on a range of topics from plant identification to organic garden care. Get insider tips on how to make your own garden as lush as the gardens at Rough Point.
Gardening with the Masters: Colonial Foodways of New England Prescott Farm October 7 / 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, Lecture begins at 11:00 am Free Event
Whether you’re growing lettuce or lupines, the URI Master Gardeners are here to help! At 11:00 am hear garden pros speak on selected topics. This month, learn about “Colonial Foodways of New England” with Jeff Richards. The 1812 Sherman Windmill is also open for touring.
Stone Wall Workshop Prescott Farm October 13 / 9:30 am – 12:30 pm $40, Advance registration required
Learn the art of traditional stone wall construction and repair from the experts. Join Master class instructors Chris and Dan Smith for their fifteenth year leading this hands-on workshop. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided for all participants. If you have work gloves, please bring them along. Please note: In the event of bad weather, the rain date is October 14.
NRF’s Golden Birthday October 24 / Free
In October 1968, the Newport Restoration Foundation was officially incorporated – 50 years later we invite Newport to celebrate the work that’s been accomplished and the exciting road ahead.
9:30 am – 7:00 pm
Rough Point, 680 Bellevue Avenue
Admission to Rough Point, Doris Duke’s Newport home and the site of the earliest NRF’s annual board meetings, is free all day.
5:00 – 7:00 pm
Vernon House, 46 Clarke Street
Vernon House, one of the newest additions to NRF’s collection of 18th century buildings, will be open to the public for an evening of community and celebration. Drop in to say hello, explore one of Newport’s most fascinating buildings, and toast to the next 50 years! Light refreshments will be served. Advance registration required here.
Workshopping the Collection: Newport’s Cabinetmaking Tradition Whitehorne House Museum October 14 / 1:00 – 3:00 pm $50; advance registration required
Get up close and personal with the early American furniture collection at the Whitehorne House Museum. Jeffrey Greene will be turning his craftsman’s eye to the construction details and design differences that set Newport furniture apart. Expect hands-on experience and careful examination during this seminar-style workshop. We’re turning tables upside-down, removing drawers, and getting on hands and knees to study the distinct form of Newport ball-and-claw feet.
Workshopping the Collection: Identifying Legendary Newport Cabinetmakers Whitehorne House Museum October 28 / 1:00 – 3:00 pm $50; advance registration required
Jeffrey Greene will be turning his craftsman’s eye to the minute details of a piece that help to identify the maker. Only a tiny percentage of high-end Newport furniture is signed or labeled, but craftsman’s markings and methods of work are as identifiable as handwriting and have yielded some surprising discoveries. Expect hands-on experience and careful examination during this seminar-style workshop.
Colonial Survival and Modern Revival: Newport in the 1960s Rough Point October 30 / 5:00 – 7 :00 pm / $15
Newport in the 1960s was a time-worn place, a city of many architectural layers. Some saw decay; others saw a sleeping beauty. Urban renewal celebrated modernity, and historic preservation revered the past. These two forces were engaged in an epic battle for the future of the city. Through period photographs and compelling news reports, journey back to the old colonial districts of the Historic Hill and Point and witness the explosive firmament of the 1960s when an important chapter in Newport’s history was being written. Doors will open at 5:00; the lecture begins at 5:30. We invite you to visit the special exhibition galleries before the program.
For more information on all events, visit www.NewportRestoration.org/events.
The month of August is jam-packed with fun activities that continue to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Newport Restoration Foundation. We’ll be looking back at — and sometimes reviving — what Doris Duke and others were up to around the time of its founding and much more! Please mark your calendars for special events including:
A Perfect Storm: The Collision of Hurricanes, Climate Change and Coastal Population Growth Newport Historical Society Resource Center August 1 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm $10 – $5 NHS members & NRF tenants
Jeff Donnelly, a climatologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will discuss the historical links between hurricanes, climate change, and the population growth along the coast. Please register for this event by calling 401-846-0813 x110 or email hrockwood@newporthistory.org.
Gene Smith’s Sink and the Mid-Century Underground Jazz Scene Rough Point August 2 / 5:30 – 7:00 pm $15 in advance, $20 at the door
This talk follows the footsteps of legendary mid-century photographer Eugene Smith and his New York City “jazz loft,” which became an afterhours haunt for the likes of Thelonious Monk, Zoot Sims, and yes… even Doris Duke.
Gardening with the Masters: The Three Sisters Technique Prescott Farm August 5 / 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, Lecture begins at 11:00 am Free Event
Join the Master Gardeners for another special presentation this month at Prescott Farm. On Sunday, August 5 at 11 am, Betsy McClintock will speak about the “The Three Sisters Growing Technique”. In this lecture, learn the history, legend and practical use of Three Sisters Gardening and see a growing example at Prescott Farm. The Guard House and 1812 Windmill will also be open and staffed for public enjoyment.
Whitehorne House Museum Open House August 9 / 5:00 – 7:00 pm Free Event
A fixture of Lower Thames Street for almost 45 years, it’s time for some change at Whitehorne House Museum! Explore the collection of 18th-century Newport furniture for the first time or come back to hear about plans for the revitalization. The museum’s charming pocket garden will also be open for wandering.
Camelot vs. the Counterculture: Fashion and Society in the 1960s Rough Point August 23 / 5:30 – 7:00 pm $15 in advance, $20 at the door
Jackie Kennedy in the White House and Grace Slick at Woodstock. This illustrated talk explores the tangled web of fashion, culture, and society in the 1960s. This event is sponsored by the Costume Society of America, Northeast Chapter.
Ask a Gardener Rough Point August 25 / 11:00 am, weather permitting Included with admission to the house or grounds
This spring and summer, NRF will offer public programming that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Newport Restoration Foundation by looking back at — and sometimes reviving — what Doris Duke and others were up to around the time of its founding. Please mark your calendars for special events including:
Ask a Gardener Rough Point May 26 / 10:30 am, weather permitting Price: Included with admission to the house or grounds
Gardening with the Masters Prescott Farm First Sunday of the month June 3 & July 1 at 10:00 am -12:00 pm / Free
Whether you’re growing lettuce or lupines, the URI Master Gardeners are here to help! Bring in a soil sample from your home garden for free analysis. At 11:00 am, hear garden pros speak on selected topics. The 1812 Sherman Windmill will also be open for touring.
Whitehorne House Museum Open House June 14 & July 12 / 5:00-7:00 pm / Free
Premier Of “I Dare You: A Musical Suite Dedicated To Doris Duke” Rough Point June 15 / 7:30-9:00 pm $25 in advance; $30 at the door
Doris Duke’s lifelong passion for jazz is reignited at Rough Point this summer. Composer and musician Francisco Pais has assembled musicians from around the world to debut an original contemporary jazz suite inspired by Doris. Listen to the imagined soundtrack of her life at this one-of-a-kind performance.
Party Like It’s 1968 Garden Party Rough Point July 11 / 5:00-7:00 pm $25 in advance; $30 at the door
Back by popular demand! Come celebrate this big year for NRF in 1960s style. Join us as we get groovy with vintage cocktails, ocean breezes, genteel lawn games, and live music.
Closet Tour: Doris Duke’s 1960s Wardrobe Rough Point July 17 / 5:30-7:00 pm $15 in advance; $20 at the door
Get a rare glimpse inside Doris Duke’s closet and the Rough Point costume collection. This curator-led experience will focus on Doris’s sartorial choices during the 1960s, including go-go boots and colorful caftans, and what we can learn from the garments she left behind.
