The Breakers Stable and Carriage House are in Newport, Rhode Island.

The free Newport Mansions audio tour app allows for self-guided tours of The Breakers.You can download the app for the best tour experience.Bring your earbuds!Guests who don't have a smart device will get a paper tour script.

In turn-of-the-century America, the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence is a symbol of the summer "cottages" in Newport.

The industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century was greatly aided by the Commodore's family fortune in steamships and the New York Central Railroad.In 1885, the Commodore's grandson became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system and purchased a wooden house in Newport.

The villa was designed by Richard Morris Hunt after the house was destroyed by fire.Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance palazzo.Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixture.The placement of the boiler room beneath the lawn away from the house was one of several measures taken to reduce the danger of fire.

In the summer of 1895, the Vanderbilt family first occupied the house.

The family had seven children.Gladys, who was married to Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, took over the house after her mother's death in 1934.She opened The Breakers in 1948 to raise money for the Preservation Society.The Preservation Society bought the house from her heirs.The house is a national historic landmark.

The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms and Rosecliff are partially wheelchair accessible.To find out more about access for visitors with special needs, please call or email.

The house is located on the west side of Coggeshall Avenue.It is 100 feet deep and 150 feet wide and has a carriage house in the center.The stable worked as follows.The people in the house could call down their requests on the telephone or Mrs. Vanderbilt would send a daybook down every morning at 8 a.m.The horses left the building from the north door when a carriage was requested.The returning carriages entered through the south door.The carriages were washed off and wheeled into the carriage house.The horses were washed in two rooms with cement floors after being taken to the back.The harness was put in the tack room.There are 26 tie stalls and two box stalls in the stable.The head coachman ran the carriage house and stable.Twelve grooms and stable boys lived overhead on the north side under his supervision.The head coachman had a five-room apartment and a large hayloft over the stable.On the south side, there was a large kitchen, dining room and living room for the grooms and stable boys.The second floor was destroyed by fire in 1970.The finest of the coach companies, the Brewster Company of New York, was used to build the Venture by Alfred Gwynne Commodore, who was a leader in the sport of coaching.He would take it to England every year.The carriage room has coaches on display.There is an exhibit on the New York Central Railroad in the Stable.

The landscape designed by Ernest W. Bowditch was important in the evolution of landscape architecture.It needed a revival by the late 20th century.

The Breakers Landscape Master Plan was approved by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.The plan was the result of years of research by Reed Hilderbrand and Robinson & ASSOCIATES of Washington, D.C.The first phase was completed in August.

The focus will shift to areas around the terrace and the Children's Cottage by the end of summer 2021.The project is expected to take five years and cost several million dollars.The project is funded by generous donors who give exclusively to this effort.

The house and grounds close at 6 p.m.

The gardens are open at 10 a.m. with the "Stroll the Gardens & Grounds" ticket.The last admission is at 5 p.m.The grounds close at 6 p.m.