The Breakers Cultural Landscape Report and Phased Implementation

The Breakers estate in Newport, Rhode Island is a famous cultural icon representing the epitome of wealth and lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the Vanderbilt family during America’s Gilded Age. Now owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC), a non-profit that manages over a dozen turn-of-the-century homes in the area, upkeep for the impressive structure is supported by ticket sales for tours. The mansion, designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1994. Notably missing from the designation was the landscape, as the original gardens had been destroyed by a hurricane decades prior, and only fragmented remnants remained. The integrity was poor, the historic record incomplete.

In preparation for the addition of a Welcome Center on site to host ticket sales and visitor facilities, the PSNC commissioned Reed Hilderbrand and landscape historians Judith Robinson & Associates to write a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) to understand the landscape as a cultural resource. Central to the process was the recognized need to expand the historical narrative beyond the building, beyond the patriarch, and beyond gild. The site exemplifies great advances and innovations in design and craft, and showcases a turning point in gardening styles of the era with influences of the formal Beaux Arts in the drives and parterre gardens, pastoral language of the trees and paths, and Victorian-style ground planting, each introduced by the hands that shaped the garden. The team investigated and documented the property's evolution, with emphasis on the landscape designer, Ernest Bowditch, the estate gardeners, and the long-term stewardship of Alice Vanderbilt. Through careful analysis, the CLR builds the case that the Period of Significance for the landscape extends beyond that of the building itself to capture the maturation of the garden and stewardship of the gardeners beyond the initial planting. Through evaluative comparison between the period of significance to the current state, the team designated a treatment recommendation for each feature.

Upon completion of the Cultural Landscape Report and its adoption by the State of Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission, Reed Hilderbrand master planned the renewal of The Breakers landscape. Based on the range of integrity across the property, the design team modulated the intensity of intervention — restoration, rehabilitation, preservation — to reinstate coherence of the site. The renewed landscape is designed to capture the original character of the gardens with adaptations to align with current management realities, the year-round use as a house museum, and the additional pressures of the changing climate and appropriate plant selections.

The Welcome Center and first phase of the Serpentine Walk were completed in 2018, reintroducing visitors to the garden experience that had once been the most important itinerary on the grounds – and the oldest, as parts of the walk predate the palazzo. In the years following, the Serpentine Walk was implemented in phases until its completion in 2023. The rehabilitation recreated the spirit of the cinematic and sensory-rich experience, weaving along the perimeter of the site through a series of gardens with varying aperture, color, and views. The rehabilitated walk has expanded the visitor experience and asserted the landscape as an equal contributor to the historical value of the property. Work at The Breakers continues as we restore the parterre gardens and oversee site management through the historical lens.

Our goals for the restoration of the North Parterre included improvements to the grading and drainage of walkways to accommodate heavy foot traffic in all weather conditions, restoration of the original planting structure, including trees which frame the space and contribute to its sense of enclosure as well the central sunken rose garden, and accommodation of contemporary visitation needs, with new places to sit and new lighting and electrical connections.

Construction access was challenging and the team skillfully protected and restored the historic stone walls, balustrade, fountain, and steps.