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 late March to November.
Experience the only museum in the world specializing in 18th-century Newport furniture and related decorative arts. Open late May to October.
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 Museum was the Newport home of heiress, collector, and philanthropist Doris Duke (1912-1993). Experience Doris Duke’s life and legacy through the arrangements of the rooms, the fine and decorative arts and fashion collections, and a historic landscape with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean.
We look forward to welcoming you safely onsite for a self-guided experience at Rough Point.
During Your Visit:
For inquiries about private tours, please contact Jen Davis (jen@newportrestoration.org).
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.
CURRENTLY CLOSED
We will open in the Spring
2023 Operating Schedule (subject to change):
Tuesday-Friday: 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Museum Tickets (March-mid-November) General Admission: $20.00 Students with ID: $10.00 Children 12 & under: Free
Rough Point is a Blue Star Museum.
FOR TICKETS
680 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 401–847–8344 visit@newportrestoration.org
Parking is available onsite. The house is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.
Silk Velvet Jacket by Balenciaga
Carved and Gilded Rococo Double Doors
Portrait of Caroline Spencer, Fourth Duchess of Marlborough by Reynolds
Pantsuit by Emilio Pucci
Portrait bust of Julius Caesar in bronze
Portrait bust of Augustus in bronze
This pair of double doors (only one set shown here) and another pair just like them originally adorned the Golden Gallery in the Palazzo Carrega-Cataldi, now the Chamber of Commerce in Genoa. They were purchased in Italy and brought to New York by the architect Stanford White in the 1890s. One pair, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Rogers Fund, 1991.307a, b), stayed with White until his death in 1906. The Rough Point pair were destined for the ballroom of the Fifth Avenue mansion of William C. Whitney, which White was renovating at the time. Doris Duke bought the doors at the sale of the contents of another Newport mansion, Bois Dore, in 1977. Just as they were used in the Whitney Mansion, Duke used the doors in Rough Point as freestanding screens. One thing she changed, however, was the orientation of the hinges, leaving one pair of doors (the pair you see here) misaligned.
Doris Duke purchased this striking portrait of Caroline Spencer at auction in New York in 1970 to hang along the stairs next to full-length portraits purchased by her parents.
The bust and the pedestal were purchased separately by Doris Duke in 1962 from the sale of the contents of The Elms, the Bellevue Avenue mansion owned by the Berwind family and designed by Horace Trumbauer.