Boston Flora

Tag: Rosecliff

  • Friday, June 19 – Sunday, June 21 – The 30th Newport Flower Show: Pearls of Newport

    “Pearls of Newport” is the perfect theme for the 30th anniversary Newport Flower Show, taking place June 19–21, 2026, at Rosecliff. This milestone event will feature exquisite floral exhibits inspired by the rare beauty and hidden treasures of the City-by-the-Sea. Just as pearls symbolize elegance and sophistication, the show will spotlight stunning floral designs, botanical arts and horticulture displays that reflect Newport’s rich heritage and refined charm. The theme will also connect naturally to the city’s coastal identity and maritime history.

    In a graceful nod to the Gilded Age, when fashionable Newport women often wore pearls as a symbol of refinement and status, the show will blend historic elegance with modern creativity.

    “Pearls of Newport” promises a celebration of floral excellence wrapped in coastal beauty and timeless style.

    Don’t miss your chance to secure tickets to the Flower Show Opening Night Party on Friday, June 19, at 6 pm – the kickoff to Newport’s summer season! Tickets available now at NewportMansions.org

  • Now through Sunday, May 3 – Full Circle

    Fifty-one years after “Monumenta” transformed Newport with one of the world’s first large-scale outdoor sculpture exhibitions, “Full Circle” revisits that groundbreaking moment through the work of Richard Fleischner, one of the last living participating artists, and his contemporaries.

    Centered on Fleischner’s enduring site-specific “Sod Maze” at Chateau-sur-Mer, the exhibition presents original sketches, notes and archival materials that illuminate his early career alongside influential figures such as Christo, David Smith, Claes Oldenburg, Alexander Liberman and Barnett Newman.

    Complemented by encaustics and works related to Fleischner’s ongoing Rowdy Meadow earthwork – home to contemporary masters like Richard Serra, Anish Kapoor, and Andy Goldsworthy – the exhibit traces a compelling arc from the pioneering vision of “Monumenta” to the continuing relevance of modern art and contemporary sculpture today.

    The exhibit is at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, and the exhibition is included with admission to Rosecliff. For more. information visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/full-circle/

    Image above: Richard Fleischner, aerial photograph of “Sod Maze” in winter, Newport, Rhode Island, 1974. Courtesy of the artist.

  • 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, April 3, 8:30 am – 5:30 pm Eastern – The Newport Piccolo Simposio: Italian Influence in Newport, Live and Online

    The Newport Symposium returns with a more intimate format, presenting a daylong program with lectures, tours and workshops. Italian Influence in Newport will address the ways in which Gilded Age Newport was inspired by centuries of Italian design, including architecture, interiors, landscapes and fine art. From Renaissance-revival woodwork by Luigi Frullini at Chateau-sur-Mer, to the Genoese-style palazzo design of The Breakers, to Venetian masterpieces at The Elms, speakers will reflect on the past while also addressing how those influences continue today through the lens of interior design. • Scholarships for students will be
    available by application. • Attendance at Rosecliff is both in-person and virtual via Zoom. Register at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/the-newport-symposium-2025/. In person $100, Zoom $25.

  • Friday, November 22 – Wednesday, January 1 – Holidays at the Newport Mansions

    The Breakers, Marble House, and The Elms will be decorated in their traditional, lavish fashion for The Preservation Society of Newport County’s “Holidays at the Newport Mansions,” from November 22, 2024 to January 1, 2025.  In addition, Chateau-sur-Mer will be open for the first two weeks of the holiday season. Its first floor will be fully decorated in the spirit of the holidays – the first time in 25 years! Nearly 30 Christmas trees are exquisitely decorated to complement the décor and theme of each room, like Mr. Vanderbilt’s tree in The Breakers, ornamented with trains and top hats! Hundreds of poinsettias, garlands, wreaths and fresh floral arrangements add color, warmth and life. As always, the 15-foot-tall poinsettia tree in the Great Hall of The Breakers – made up of 150 poinsettia plants – provides a perfect holiday photo opportunity. Admission for daytime house tours during the holiday period is by our regular tickets: The Breakers, One-House, Duo or Trio. These tickets are good for any date and time the mansions are open and can be purchased online or in person when you visit. All houses closed Thanksgiving Day, November 28, and Christmas Day, December 25. On December 24, all houses close at 2 pm.

    Please note, Rosecliff will be open daily from December 9 – January 1 but will not be decorated for the holidays. For tickets and additional information visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/holidays-at-the-newport-mansions-2024/




  • Now through Saturday, January 25, 2025 – Wild Imagination: Art and Animals in the Gilded Age

    Americans’ relationship with animals transformed during the Gilded Age (1870-1914). With a focus on Newport history, the Preservation Society of Newport County’s exhibition at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, explores how this exciting, tumultuous period shaped the role of animals in our modern world. In the late 19th century, Americans moved in large numbers from farms to cities, losing touch with a rural way of life and with the closeness to nature and animals that defined it. Nostalgia for a lost kinship with animals pervaded urban, industrial America. At the same time, many were encountering new, “exotic” species through a boom in foreign travel, marine exploration and imperial expansion. More everyday Americans enjoyed natural history pursuits like birdwatching. Pet keeping surged. And while captive animals thrilled spectators at zoos and circuses, which both had their heyday in the Gilded Age, activists launched the nation’s first animal rights movement.

    Newporters played a vital, though often contradictory, part in these developments. They fought at the vanguard of the animal rights movement yet set the era’s fashion for furs and feathers as residents of its most stylish summer resort. Newporters pampered their pets but expanded industries like the railroads that ravaged wildlife habitats.

    Wild Imagination brings together a menagerie of animal-themed artworks and other objects, from paintings, sculptures, photographs and fashions to fancy dog collars and sea creatures blown in glass. These pieces reflect profound and lasting changes in human-animal relations. They also reveal the individual stories of wondrous creatures that continue to capture our imagination. For hours and complete information visit https://www.newportmansions.org/events/wild-imagination/

  • 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/

  • Friday, June 21 – Sunday, June 23 – The Newport Flower Show: At Home

    Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Newport Flower Show, June 21 – 23 at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. You may also reserve your spot at the Opening Night Reception, the start of Newport’s summer season. For more information visit events@newportmansions.org.

    The 2024 Newport Flower Show will be back at Rosecliff, its original home, with the theme of “At Home” – celebrating the variety of florals and horticulture that we enjoy in our own homes.

    As visitors step into the foyer of Rosecliff, the air will be filled with the fragrances of abundant summer blooms. The enchanting exhibits will include an array of displays that showcase the relationship between flowers and the homes they beautify. The popular Botanical Arts division will include artists’ interpretations of items found in many homes: dolls, picture frames, the family dog and more.

    After viewing the displays in the Salon, Ballroom and Dining Room, guests will step onto the Terrace to admire the Horticulture entries and then the oceanside back lawn to explore a beautiful central garden display including a cutting garden, home orchard and pollinator garden, along with ideas to create a picturesque setting for outdoor living.

    Be sure to leave some time to browse the Marketplace, offering a variety of floral and plant options as well as home decor items for purchase.

    “At Home” will be a celebration of the beauty that flowers and plants bring to the spaces we call home. Whether you’re a flower enthusiast, a gardening hobbyist or someone seeking inspiration for home decor, this show promises a feast for the senses and a unique perspective on the intersection of nature and your home, indoors and out.

    Twice each day at 10 am and 2 pm, Lucy Hunter will present a talk and demonstration based on her book The Flower Hunter. Tickets for all events may be purchased at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/the-newport-flower-show-at-home/

  • Friday, June 23 – Sunday, June 25 – The Newport Flower Show: The Grand Tour

    The 2023 Newport Flower Show will celebrate the early 19th-century custom of a trip as a means of gaining both exposure and association with the sophistication of Europe. The title of this year’s event is The Grand Tour.

    Guests will be enriched by surroundings steeped in cultural and social history while delighting in all the color and beauty of the floral world. The Show will take place at Marble House, Newport, R.I., from June 23-25, 2023.

    Rosecliff is undergoing several important restoration projects this summer and is not available to host the 2023 Show. We will return to Rosecliff in 2024. Flower Show and Opening Reception Tickets will be available as of April 1. Visit www.newportmansions.org

  • Friday, June 17 – Sunday, June 19 – The Newport Flower Show: Eden … A Personal Paradise

    From Fantasy Gardens and Modern Farms to Community Plantings and Plant Parents, the concept of a personal Eden has been redefined. Visit Rosecliff from June 17 – 19, 2022. The Opening Reception will take place Friday, June 17. Tickets information may be found at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/newport-flower-show Presenting Sponsor is Bartlett Tree Experts. Group tours are welcome. For groups of 20 or more, advance reservations are required. Proceeds will benefit the preservation and rehabilitation of the historic landscapes of The Preservation Society of Newport. All visitors ages five and older must be fully vaccinated, and visitors will be required to provide proof of vaccination and photo ID at the entrance – no exceptions. Proof of a COVID booster shot for all visitors 12 and older also required. Masks required indoors.