Newport County Days Is Back at the Newport Mansions
Locals get in free at the annual glimpse inside the island's most famous homes.
Newport County residents can get in free to the Elms and other properties on April 22 and 23. (Photo by Gavin Ashworth for the Preservation Society of Newport County)
Get ready, Aquidneck Island residents — it’s Newport County Days at the Preservation Society of Newport County, which means island residents get in free at the Newport mansions. Residents of Jamestown, Tiverton and Little Compton are also included in this special perk that allows locals a glimpse inside the area’s most decadent homes on Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, free of charge.
Take advantage of the spring weather this weekend to tour the Breakers, the famous, Italian-inspired summer cottage that hosted generations of Vanderbilts. Or, learn about Marble House’s famous socialite owner who divorced her husband a few years after receiving it as a thirty-ninth birthday present. Wander the gardens at the Elms, modeled after an eighteenth-century French chateau, or enjoy the (stationary) wildlife at Green Animals Topiary Garden, where you can picnic with a lion, unicorn or bear. Many of these homes were also used as filming locations for HBO’s hit show “The Gilded Age,” with the real-life bedrooms and ballrooms of nineteenth-century Newport filling in as the residences of the fictional elite.
Newport Daffodil Days is in full bloom, so wherever you go, be sure to keep an eye out for the bountiful blossoms and participate in the many Daffodil Days activities. You can also take advantage of Newport Restaurant Week, continuing until April 22. Check out our Newport Restaurant Week guide for the best deals, from multi-course dinners to noodles and pub offerings.
The Breakers, the Elms, Marble House and Green Animals Topiary Gardens are open on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free admission also extends to personnel at Naval Station Newport and their immediate families as well as students of Salve Regina University. The deal does not include specialty tours such as Beneath the Breakers or the Elms Servant Life Tour, so be sure to book those experiences in advance. Proof of residence, or a Naval Station Newport or Salve Regina University student ID, is required. Learn more about Newport County Days at newportmansions.org.
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