Preservation Society to Build Welcome Center at The Breakers

The Preservation Society of Newport County announced plans to build a welcome center at The Breakers (1895) commensurate with the property’s stature as an internationally recognized historic house museum and one of the five most visited historic houses in America.

After a decade of work, the Preservation Society's Board of Trustees has selected a design by Epstein Joslin Architects, Inc. of Cambridge, MA that meets sound historic preservation criteria while providing for the comfort and orientation needs of visitors.

 "The welcome center will create an appropriate, positive first experience for the 400,000 people who visit The Breakers from around the world annually," said Donald O. Ross, Chairman of the Preservation Society's Board of Trustees. "It will give them a place to learn about the Preservation Society's properties and other attractions in Newport, plan their day's activities, and purchase tickets or memberships.  They'll also be able to enjoy light refreshments and use clean and accessible restrooms." 

More than 20 million people have visited The Breakers since it opened for tours in 1948, and it is now a destination in itself within Newport, Rhode Island and New England. 

"The location, programming and design of the welcome center are fully consistent with the Preservation Society's mission to preserve, protect and present Newport's historic houses and gardens," added Ross.  "The Board of Trustees spent the last 12 years considering many alternative locations for the welcome center, before enthusiastically approving this proposed plan." 

Recovery of the original character of the landscape at the entrance of The Breakers is a major feature of the project. The landscape design firm of Reed Hilderbrand of Watertown, MA has been commissioned to develop a multi-stage plan to ensure the protection of historic hinoki cypress and other significant contributing specimen trees and plants, restore suitable plant material and eventually recover the original perimeter landscape and historic path.

Temporary structures added over the last 30 years will be removed, including an amusement park-style ticket booth, a portable restroom trailer, a vending machine shed, and a seasonal ticket tent. Replacement of the tent is urgently needed since it has generated $16 million in additional incremental revenue since its opening in 2001. That is more than 1/3 of the $42 million that the Preservation Society has invested in historic preservation at its properties since 2001. Creating an improved visitor experience with a permanent welcome center will help to sustain the financial success of both the Preservation Society and the Newport economy. 

The welcome center’s one-story design, occupying a modest 3,750 square feet, adopts the curving motif of the original landscape, incorporating garden architecture inspired by the period, employing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly concepts and materials. Located behind the existing Caretaker's Cottage and embedded along a wooded pathway, the welcome center is situated to provide immediate access for visitors of all ages and abilities, including fully ADA-compliant facilities not always available at historic sites.

Construction techniques have been selected to ensure no irreversible alteration to the landscape occurs, no historic fabric is lost and the historic viewsheds – both inside and outside the grounds – are preserved. Also protected from any permanent alteration is the property’s unique historic underground boiler room and coal bunker complex. The welcome center’s colors and materials have been selected to work with the design and siting to screen the structure from The Breakers itself and from Ochre Point Avenue.