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.
The annual Doris Duke Historic Preservation Awards, a joint program of the Newport Restoration Foundation and the City of Newport, encourages excellence in historic preservation by recognizing exemplary preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation projects as well as education and advocacy initiatives that have taken place throughout Newport County. The awards also seek to highlight innovative approaches to preservation, including new technologies, materials/products, creative adaptive reuse, climate change adaptations, and similar progressive concepts. The deadline for nominations is Friday, May 17, 2024.
Newport Restoration Foundation and the City are calling upon the local community to nominate innovative and best practice preservation projects completed within the last three years that have added value to the character of Newport County. The winners will be acknowledged at an awards event on Friday, September 6, 2024 (details of the event pending). Please see below for award criteria and links to the nomination guidelines.
Award Criteria
-Eligible recipients are individuals; non-profit or for-profit organizations; and federal, state, or local agencies. -A wide variety of nominations of varying project budgets are encouraged, from small buildings to large; major rehabilitations to minor restorations; landscapes or streetscapes; new technologies, materials, and/or products; and education or advocacy initiatives. Particular attention will be paid to projects that include the following criteria: • New or emerging preservation technologies, materials, and/or products • Adaptive reuse • Multi-family, affordable housing building adaptation • Resiliency and energy efficiency • Excellence in proactive maintenance (painting, roofing, siding repairs, etc.) • New products compliant in historic applications’
-All work related to the project or initiative must have been completed within the last three (3) years. -Nominations are welcome from Newport, Jamestown, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton & Little Compton. -Properties that are currently (or anticipated to be) listed for sale will not be considered. -Up to five (5) awards are made annually. The Nomination Review Committee reserves the right to designate additional awardees under extraordinary circumstances.
Further information about the nomination process, including a listing of the information that must be provided in conjunction with a nomination, can be found at newportrestoration.org/DDPA or by emailing Margaret Back, NRF’s Preservation Projects Manager, at margaret@newportrestoration.org.
About the Newport Restoration Foundation
The Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) is a non-profit organization established by philanthropist Doris Duke in 1968 to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of 18th and 19th century Newport. NRF promotes economic and community restoration through historic preservation initiatives like Keeping History Above Water, which addresses the impact of sea-level rise on the built environment in the wake of climate change, and the Historic Trades Initiative, which harnesses the knowledge of local specialists to train the next generation of preservation craftspeople. In addition to a collection of more than 70 colonial houses, now rented to tenant stewards, NRF operates properties that are open to the public —including Rough Point, the Newport home of Doris Duke, and The Vernon House, a site of expansive storytelling, contemporary dialogue, and preservation trades skill-building. NRF is on Facebook /NPTRestoration and Instagram @NPTRestoration. Visit newportrestoration.org for more information.