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.
Tour Doris Duke’s art-filled mansion and enjoy panoramic ocean views from the extensive grounds, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Open April to November.
Experience the only museum in the world specializing in 18th-century Newport furniture and related decorative arts.
Explore 40 acres of open space, a tribute to the agrarian heritage of Aquidneck Island. The site is open daily from dawn to dusk for public enjoyment.
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.
Help us to continue a lived-in legacy by becoming a Restoration Partner today.
Rough Point is a mansion and a museum with an extensive collection of fine and decorative arts and a sprawling historic landscape with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. The property is experienced today largely as it was lived in during the lifetime of its most famous owner, the heiress, philanthropist, and preservationist Doris Duke.
Museum Hours The museum is closed for the 2019 regular season, reopening April 2020.
Rough Point Museum will be open for holiday programming December 7, 14, 21 & 28. Click here for more information.
Tickets Adults: $20.00 Students with ID: $10.00 Children 12 & under: Free
Ground Pass All visitors: $5
Combine Your Ticket Purchase a combined ticket to both Whitehorne House Museum* and Rough Point Museum for only $25! *Whitehorne House Museum closes for the season after October 27, 2019.
Group Tours For groups larger than 10 visitors, please visit our Group Tours page.
The museum is closed for the 2019 regular season, reopening April 2020.
Guided Tours Highlights of the Museum guided tours introduce the singular personality of Doris Duke through the home she created, the art she collected, and the causes she embraced. The tour visits two floors of the house and special exhibition galleries. Tours last approximately 60 minutes.
Tours offered daily at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. Included with admission.
Garden Tours 30-minute tour of the historic gardens at Rough Point. Enjoy breathtaking ocean views as we talk about the transformation of the grounds over the seasons and how NRF’s celebrates Doris Duke’s interest in environmental conservation and sustainable horticulture. Weather permitting.
Tours offered daily at 1:30 pm. Included with admission.
Roam Around Rough Point After hours access to the house, special exhibitions, and the grounds
Wednesdays, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Newport, RI County Residents are free!
Tickets for all admissions available at the door; no advance reservation necessary.
680 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 401–847–8344 visit@newportrestoration.org
Parking is available at the property. The estate is fully air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.
Portrait of the Marchioness of Wellesley by Hoppner
Portrait of James Buchanan Duke by John Da Costa
The Visit of the Stadtholder Prince Frederik to the Fleet of the States General at Dordrecht, 1646
“Grotto” style piano stool
Silk Velvet Jacket by Balenciaga
Famille Rose covered jars with phoenix and cranes among peonies
This painting from the collection of James B. Duke was purchased in 1923 to hang in his home in New York City. It features Hyacinthe Gabrielle Rolan and her two sons, Richard and Henry. The portrait came to Rough Point some time after January 1958.
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.
This marine scene from the Golden Age of Dutch painting was among the last works of art that Doris Duke added to the collection at Rough Point. She purchased it at auction in New York in 1985.
Revolving shell form seat on cabriole legs with hairy paw feet, commonly called a grotto stool.
This pair of finely painted covered jars represent just a small portion of the large collection of Chinese Export ceramics that Doris Duke's parents had collected for their New York City residence. From historic photographs we know that from ca. 1912 to 1957 these jars were displayed alongside the 18th-century tapestry upholstered furniture in the Drawing Room of the Dukes' New York City house, just as they are today in the Music Room at Rough Point.
