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.
Experience the holiday traditions and winter caretaking practices at Rough Point.
Museum Hours
Rough Point Museum and grounds are closed for the 2020 regular season.
A Rough Point Holiday: Weekends starting November 27
Click here for more information.
Grounds Schedule
Tuesday – Sunday, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm, last admission at 3:30 pm, closed for cleaning between 12pm-1pm.
House Schedule
Tuesday – Sunday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, last admission at 3:00 pm, closed for cleaning between 12pm-1pm.
Grounds Pass All visitors: $5
Museum Tickets (beginning July 7) Adults: $20.00 Students with ID: $10.00 Children 12 & under: Free
Active military members receive free admission with ID, and active members from Aquidneck Island can extend their free admission to up to 4 family members through Labor Day.
Grounds & Gardens access included in museum admission.
Combine Your Ticket Purchase a combined ticket to both Whitehorne House Museum* and Rough Point Museum for only $25! *Whitehorne House Museum is temporarily closed – opening date to be determined.
We are open online! We invite you to explore the remarkable mansion of an unconventional heiress from home. Please follow our Facebook, Instagram or YouTube pages for the latest updates on opening, upcoming Rough Point From Home programs, and more.
Visit our online museum store!
The products of the Newport Restoration Foundation Store celebrate the life and passions of our founder, Doris Duke. We invite you to explore our curated collections—including unique, one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by our museums’ design, collections, and stories— exclusively available here.
Click here to start shopping from home or visit shopnewportrestoration.org.
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 Nanaline Holt Inman Duke
Pair of musical automatons by John Henry Cox
Study for Decorative panel with two hounds by Oudry
Dutch Rococo marquetry chairs
Tiffany swan centerpiece
Portrait of Thomas Freeman, Jr., Esq. by Hoare
From 1912 to 1957, this grand portrait of Doris Duke's mother, Nanaline Holt Inman Duke (1871-1962), hung in the library of the Duke family's residence in New York City at 1 East 78th Street. It was moved to Newport in the late 1950s when Doris Duke gave the New York house to New York University.
The portrait was made in 1907 around the time that Nanaline, the widow of wealthy Atlanta-based cotton merchant, William Inman, married tobacco and energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke.
This pair of whimsical mechanical pieces (only one is shown here) were made in England for export to the Far East market. To fit English perceptions of Asian aesthetics, a pagoda shape includes animals exotic to Westerners such as elephants and ostriches. When operating, the devices play one of six tunes, and ships and horseback riders parade through painted backdrops revolving behind glass panels in the base. The automatons were acquired by Doris Duke in Bangkok, Thailand, in the 1960s.
Two paintings by French artist Oudry hang on the second floor landing at Rough Point are preparatory sketches for paintings commissioned by Samuel Jacques Bernard, the comte de Coubert (1686-1753), for the dining room of his grand hôtel on the rue du Bac in Paris, built between 1740 and 1742. The full-scale paintings were removed in 1887 when the hôtel was dismantled and its decorations sold. They are now in the Museés des arts décoratifs, Strasbourg.
A set of four chairs, each part ornately shaped and decoratively inlaid with foliage, urns, and flowers. Doris Duke bought these chairs in New York at auction in 1972.
Made by Tiffany in 1874 and exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, the silver swan was a latecomer to the collection of Doris Duke. She bought it at auction in 1988, and was so fond of it that she kept it with her on her annual cycle of journeys to homes in Honolulu, Beverly Hills, Newport, New York, and New Jersey.
This portrait was a purchase of Doris Duke's father from the dealer Knoedler & Co. in New York in November 1924.
