Newport Mansions


Now through Sunday, March 30 – Newport Mansions Spring Online Auction

Bid high and bid often! The Preservation Society of Newport County’s Spring 2025 online auction offers amazing opportunities for an experience you’ll treasure forever. One example is a Floral Fair dinner experience following the 2025 Newport Flower Show Opening Night Party, in the Ballroom at Rosecliff. All bids support the Preservation Society’s mission to protect, preserve, and present an exceptional collection of house museums and landscapes in one of the most historically intact cities in America.

Please see the Auction Rules before submitting your bids. Visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/exclusive-experiences-online-auction/


Thursday, December 12, 6:00 pm – Beyond Poinsettias: Floral Design for the Holidays

Join Preservation Society Head Floral Designer Becky Bonnenfant and Linda Del Buono, Senior Buyer at R.J. Carbone Floral Distributors, to learn about designing holiday arrangements that go beyond poinsettias. Linda will discuss various creative options while Becky creates an arrangement right before your eyes. Attendees will also see some of the floral designs destined for display during Holidays at the Newport Mansions. The event takes place December 12 at 6 pm in the Stable and Carriage House, 53 Coggeshall Avenue in Newport, and is limited to 25 participants.

One lucky participant will win a holiday arrangement and everyone will leave with a container to try their hand at floral designing at home. Historic Newport members $20, General Public $25 (this is an adult workshop). Register at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/beyond-poinsettias-floral-design-for-the-holidays/


Saturday, December 14, 7:00 pm – 12:00 midnight – Holiday Dinner Dance 2024

The Preservation Society of Newport County will hold its annual Holiday Dinner Dance event on Saturday, December 14 at 7:00 pm. This black-tie evening will begin with delicious hors d’oeuvre and cocktails amid the grandeur of The Breakers, which will be lavishly decorated for the holiday season. After drinks, guests will be seated for a holiday-inspired four-course dinner in the Great Hall and Dining Room, followed by dancing in the Music Room. To purchase tickets, call the Special Events Office at (401) 847-1000, ext. 150 or ext. 140.

Tickets will not be available through the Newport Mansions website. Questions? Email Events@NewportMansions.org. $1000 Patrons. $600 Preservation Society Members, $750 Non-Members


Thursday, September 19 – Sunday, September 22 – Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival

Explore the infinite variety of wines and cocktails and satisfy your palate at the annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival! The four-day weekend, September 19 – 22, will include a lavish Connoisseur’s Dinner, Vintner’s Dinner, an elegant Sunday Festival Jazz Brunch, and a series of 18 seminars featuring wines and other libations from around the world.

After each seminar, guests will be invited to spend some time in the VIP Tasting Tent for additional wine and food samples. This year the event will take place both at Rosecliff and at The Elms.

Your festival attendance directly supports The Preservation Society of Newport County’s work to showcase the historical and architectural treasures of Newport County and preserve this rich heritage for future generations.

  • Seminar ticket holders will have one-hour access to the VIP Tasting Tent on the front lawn at Rosecliff, courtesy of Presenting Sponsor, JP Morgan, and expanded culinary samples will be offered.
  • Seminar guests will be issued a wristband for entry to the VIP Tasting Tent.
  • Tickets to all Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival events are sold separately.
  • Free parking at Rosecliff.
  • All attendees must be 21 or older. No children or infants are permitted.
  • Tickets are non-refundable.

For complete information visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/newport-mansions-wine-food-festival-2024/


Saturday, May 11, 10:00 am – Green Animals Plant Sale

Welcome Spring! We’ll soon be working in our gardens, and what better place to get wonderful new plants and gardening tips for your home or garden than the annual Green Animals Plant Sale, sponsored by The Preservation Society of Newport County. Head on over to Green Animals at 380 Corys Lane, Portsmouth, Rhode Island on Saturday, May 11 for some great deals on Mother’s Day gifts, topiary, bedding plants, hanging baskets, perennials and more. The sale starts at 10 a.m.–get there early for the best selection! For more details, log on to www.newportmansions.org, or call 401-683-1267. Green Animals is not open for tours on Friday, May 10, in preparation for the sale. Admission is free for plant sale only, but visitors will need a ticket or Preservation Society membership to tour the topiary garden. This event will happen rain or shine.


Friday, September 17 – Sunday, September 19 – Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival

Join the Preservation Society of Newport County on September 17 – 18 for the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival.

Wonderful wines from around the world, fabulous food from local and regional chefs and an exquisite ocean view are all included in this year’s festival at Rosecliff. Seminars, wine-pairing dinners and Sunday Brunch are all returning. 

The full schedule of Seminars and Wine Dinners along with Tickets Sales may be accessed at www.newportmansions.org.


Thursday, November 1, 6:00 pm – Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore

Harvey. Maria. Irma. Sandy. Katrina. We live in a time of unprecedented hurricanes and catastrophic weather events, a time when it is increasingly clear that climate change is neither imagined nor distant and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In her new book, Rising, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through some of the places where this change has been most dramatic, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish in place.

Elizabeth Rush’s journalism has appeared in the Washington Post, Harper’s, Guernica, Granta, Orion, and the New Republic, among others. She is the recipient of fellowships and grants including the Howard Foundation Fellowship, awarded by Brown University; the Andrew Mellon Foundation Fellowship for Pedagogical Innovation in the Humanities; the Metcalf Institute Fellowship; and the Science in Society Journalism Award from the National Association of Science Writers. She received her MFA in nonfiction from Southern New Hampshire University and her BA from Reed College. She lives in Rhode Island, where she teaches creative nonfiction at Brown University.

The Preservation Society of Newport County will host the author on Thursday, November 1 at 6 pm at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Advance ticket purchase is required. Preservation Society Members $10 / General Public $15. You may purchase tickets at https://www.newportmansions.org/learn/adult-programs

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Wednesday, October 11, 11:00 am – Ernest Bowditch: Out of Olmsted’s Shadow

The Preservation Society of Newport County will host a lecture on Wednesday, October 11 at 11 am at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Jim Donahue, Curator of Historic Landscapes & Horticulture for the Society, will speak on Ernest Bowditch: Out of Olmsted’s Shadow. Ernest W. Bowditch (1850-1918) was a key figure in the evolution of the profession of landscape architecture in the late 19th century. Over a 40-year career, Bowditch’s firm designed over 2,500 projects ranging from Gilded Age estate master plans to designs for planned garden suburbs and civil engineering projects. The Breakers landscape plan helped to launch Bowditch, and he returned to redesign the site over the course of his career. Come and learn about Bowditch, his relationship to the Vanderbilts, and the private paradise they created at The Breakers.

Admission is free, but advance registration is required. Register at http://www.newportmansions.org/learn/lectures/lecture-ernest-bowditch-out-of-olmsteds-shadow


Thursday, November 5, 6:00 pm – The Gilded Plate: A Culinary History of America, 1870 – 1920

Based on her recent book, The American Plate: A Culinary History in 100 Bites, Dr. Libby H. O’Connell, Chief Historian, The History Channel, will present a slide lecture about food in America, beginning just after the Civil War and ending with the close of World War I. From Gilded Age gourmet dishes like Baked Alaska and Oysters Rockefeller to every day basics like steelworkers’ goulash and Oreo cookies, Dr. O’Connell highlights the stories of food (and a few drinks) that enrich your understanding of the past. The lecture will take place at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport on Thursday, November 5 beginning at 6 pm. Admission: Preservation Society members $10, General Admission $15. Advance registration is required. Please register online at www.newportmansions.org or call (401) 847-1851.


Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 21 – Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival

The 9th Annual Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival will take place September 19-21, 2014 at The Elms, Rosecliff & Marble House. Presenting Underwriter Food & Wine Magazine has enabled the Preservation Society of Newport County to welcome special guests Martha Stewart and Sara Moulton. Additional guest chefs and wine experts include Jonathan Cartwright, Dan Enos, Michael Ferraro, and Karsten Hart. Festival highlights: a two-day Grand Tasting with hundreds of wines on the lawn of Marble House, celebrity chef appearances and cooking demonstrations, seminars with leading wine experts, Wine & Rosecliff gala celebration, a collectible wine dinner, Newport After Dark party, a winemaker’s brunch, and auctions. Free parking and shuttle transportation are available. The event is held in one of the most spectacular settings in America, and this remarkable weekend experience is not to be missed. Advance price tickets are now available at https://tix.newportmansions.org/ecommerce/default.aspx. Individual event ticket prices  range from $75 to $450.