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.
This rocky, windswept corner of the Atlantic coast has been fittingly known as "Rough Point" for more than three centuries, and largely due to its underlying, rugged beauty, it remains one of the most attractive Newport landscapes to this day. Each of Rough Point's five owners from 1887 to the present introduced features, however, that "tamed" natural elements to meet their needs and interests, leaving some parts of the estate more formal, others even more picturesque. Nature Tamed explored the history of these interventions, beginning with Frederick Law Olmsted's original 1887 survey and ending with information about the preservation and care of the grounds and gardens by the Newport Restoration Foundation.
Alongside the history of the landscape and its maintenance this exhibition included a selection of nature-inspired fine arts, furnishings, and fashion from the collections of Doris Duke. Duke's love for the natural world can still be seen in her three properties now open to the public - Duke Farms in Somerville, New Jersey, Shangri La in Honolulu, and Rough Point - and in funding for the protection of the environment made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Study of ice plant for the Herbier Général
Pair of urns with botanical studies
Pantsuit
This watercolor served as the basis for the engraved illustration of ice plant in Jean-Claude-Michel Mordant de Launay (1750–1816) and Jean-Louis-Auguste Loiseleur-Deslongchamps (1775–1849), Herbier Général de l'Amateur ... 8 vols. (Paris, 1817-1827). It is one of eight original studies for this publication that Doris Duke bought at auction in New York in 1965 from the estate of Golden Age screen star Veree Teasdale.
