Breakers
a Newport, Rhode Island "cottage"
The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century.
The Commodore's
grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, became
Chairman and President of the New York Central
Railroad system in 1885, and purchased a wooden
house called The Breakers in Newport during that
same year.
In 1893, he commissioned architect Richard
Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace the
earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by
fire the previous year. Hunt directed an
international team of craftsmen and artisans to
create a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style
palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of
Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris
assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures,
Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed
relief sculpture, and Boston architect Ogden
Codman decorated the family quarters.
tourists waiting to visit the Mansion
The Vanderbilts had seven children. Their
youngest daughter, Gladys, who married Count
Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, inherited the house
on her mother's death in 1934.
looking to the water from the porch of the Breakers
The Children's Cottage
Children's Cottage
children's cottage with the Breakers in the
background