NEWPORT, R.I. -- There is living large, and then there are the Newport Mansions, summer homes to American royalty that dot the coastline of the "City by the Sea."
Visiting the mansions is among the most popular pastimes for tourists who come to Newport. The top stop among the most grand of the grand homes is The Breakers.
"The house was modeled after 16th century palaces in Italy," said Andrea Carneiro, the communications manager at the Preservation Society of Newport County, which maintains 11 of the giant homes .
The Breakers is the epitome of the gilded age, with 70 rooms, 33 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms and 138,000 square feet. Clearly, there is plenty to tour.
The home was finished in 1893, just two years after construction began on the home for railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and his family. "If you compare it to their main house, (which was in Manhattan) their main house had two times as many rooms, so I guess this was small," Carniero joked.
Visitors can take both guided and self guided tours, and, according to the Preservation Society of Newport County, The Breakers is among the top 10 most visited historic museums in the country.
Eleven Newport Mansions are open to explore and ticket prices vary depending on how many you want to see. A visit to The Breakers is $21 for adults and $7 for kids 6-17. To find out more click here.
