The Global Meaningful Travel Map

Newport Restoration Foundation

Explore historic houses featuring community-centered programming, exhibitions, and storytelling that connect past and present in a beautiful setting.

OUR EXPERIENCES
The Newport Restoration Foundation manages two-public facing sites: Rough Point Museum (680 Bellevue Ave) and Vernon House (46 Clarke Street). Both are historic houses reimagined as community-centered sites accessible to tourists and local audiences. Programming includes collaborative community partnerships, special exhibitions, and interpretive storytelling that helps make historical topics and collections relevant to contemporary discussions impacting our lives today.

ABOUT US
The Newport Restoration Foundation is a non-profit organization established by philanthropist Doris Duke in 1968 to preserve the architectural and cultural heritage of 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 cultural heritage in the wake of climate change, and the Historic Trades Initiative, which trains the next generation of preservation tradespeople. 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.

OUR IMPACT
The Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF), founded by Doris Duke in 1968, is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Newport’s architectural and cultural heritage through a lens of sustainability, resiliency, and inclusivity.

Our Telling Stories initiative highlights underrepresented histories—particularly those of BIPOC, women, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ individuals—through community-driven research, exhibitions, and public programs.

Through Keeping History Above Water (KHAW), we help communities like Newport address the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage. At Rough Point Museum, visitors see this work in action, learning about rising sea levels, historic preservation, and what we can do to protect our shared future.

DETAILS
To learn more, contact: media@newportrestoration.org

What are your minimum and maximum group sizes?
5-100

Do you require visitors to pre-book?
Prebookings are available but are not required

Do you have group rates?
No

Do you pay commissions to travel advisors?
No

What languages do you offer your services in?
English (with written translations in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese)

When are you open?
Rough Point is seasonal. We are open Tuesdays-Sundays April-early November and open Fridays-Sundays mid-March, post-Thanksgiving through the end of December/early January.

What accommodations do you make for people living with disabilities?
Rough Point is accessible to folks with wheelchairs and we have additional wheelchairs onsite. We offer audio guides and large print text guides and have incorporated interactive tactile experiences. We also offer sensory-friendly kits for folks with sensory processing needs.