Qualla: The Breakers https://qualla.com/the-breakers en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:17 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Breakers https://qualla.com/the-breakers The Breakers: Introduction https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit Dr Wilson, CC BY-SA 3.0. The fireplace inscription reads: "I laugh at great wealth, and never miss it; nothing but wisdom matters in the end." It is carved into stone taken from a 16th-century French chateau and installed in the library of the most extravagant private residence in America. The irony was apparently lost on Cornelius Vanderbilt II when he commissioned this 70-room Italian Renaissance palazzo on the cliffs of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1893. Built in just two years at a cost that would stagger even modern billionaires, The Breakers was designed not merely as a summer cottage but as a declaration -- that the Vanderbilt fortune, drawn from railroads and commerce, had purchased a place among the aristocracy of the world.

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Image: Dr Wilson | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Breakers: Fireproof Dreams https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cornelius Vanderbilt II purchased the oceanfront property in 1885 for $450,000. When the existing mansion burned on November 25, 1892, he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt -- already the dean of American architecture -- to rebuild with one obsessive requirement: make it ...

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Image: Renata3 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-fireproof-dreams.mp3 0:06 2 full The Breakers: Rooms That Rival Palaces https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit Doglover.Coton, CC0. The Great Hall announces the building's ambitions with limestone figure groups above six doors celebrating humanity's progress: Galileo for science, Dante for literature, Apollo for the arts, Mercury for commerce. The dining room -- the grandest space in the house -- features twe...

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Image: Doglover.Coton | CC0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-rooms-that-rival-palaces.mp3 0:06 3 full The Breakers: The Weight of Inheritance https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit Bakerksimmons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cornelius Vanderbilt II enjoyed his masterpiece for barely a year in good health before suffering a stroke. He died in 1899 at age 55, leaving his widow Alice with a life interest in the property. For 35 years, Alice maintained The Breakers -- at staggering cost. Property taxes c...

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Image: Bakerksimmons | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-the-weight-of-inheritance.mp3 0:06 4 full The Breakers: From Air Raid Shelter to Museum https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit Renata3, CC BY-SA 4.0. During World War II, Gladys offered The Breakers to the Civilian Defense Council. For a time, the most opulent private home in Newport bore the designation "Newport No. 1 air raid shelter." In January 1943, over 500 air-raid wardens and volunteers conducted a major drill in its b...

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Image: Renata3 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-from-air-raid-shelter-to-museum.mp3 0:06 5 full The Breakers: Newport's Crown Jewel https://qualla.com/the-breakers/ Photo credit UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0. Today, The Breakers draws approximately 450,000 visitors annually, making it the most-visited attraction in Rhode Island. The baroque wrought-iron gates open onto a pea-gravel drive lined with pin oaks and red maples, while Blue Atlas Cedars imported from North Africa shade the g...

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Image: UpstateNYer | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/r/m/7/the-breakers-wp/drm7-the-breakers-newports-crown-jewel.mp3 0:06 6 full