Rough Point Doris Duke's Newport Mansion



When I was a kid growing up in Hawai’i, my Mom would often mention Doris Duke. I kind of knew something about her, but not much. I knew she had a plush home on the beach in Kahala, on the other side of Diamond Head. So when in Newport this time, we decided to visit the Duke’s “summer home” along the Cliff Walk where all the NYC hoi-polloi from the turn of the last century built their vacation or weekend retreats. Her home, Rough Point, was where she spent most summers as a youth, and again starting in the 1950s. Upon her death in 1993, Doris Duke bequeathed the estate to the Newport Restoration Foundation with the directive that it be opened to the public as a museum.

Doris at the Mermaid Pool at the Family Farm in New Jersey
Doris Duke (1912 – 1993) was an American heiress, socialite, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist. The daughter of a wealthy tobacco tycoon, Duke was able to fund a life of global travel and wide-ranging interests. These extended across journalism, competition surfing, jazz piano, wildlife conservation and Oriental art.

Doris Duke
Duke was born in New York City, the only child of tobacco (American Tobacco Co.) and hydroelectric power (Duke Energy) tycoon James Buchanan Duke and his second wife, Nanaline Holt Inman. When Doris Duke came of age, she used her wealth to pursue a variety of interests, including extensive world travel and the arts. Duke also gave generous support to Trinity College, which Duke had designated to receive the gifts that would transform it into Duke University, a memorial to his father and brother.

Doris Duke's Passport tells of her Travels
Doris with Duke Kahanamoku and Fellow Surfers
Twice divorced, Duke enjoyed a colorful private life that was seldom out of the gossip columns. Her philanthropic work continued into her old age, some of it unknown to the public during her lifetime, Her estimated $1.3 billion fortune was largely left to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, dedicated to medical research, prevention of cruelty to children and animals, the performing arts, wildlife and ecology. She was also active in preserving more than 80 historic buildings in Newport, Rhode Island.

Doris Duke resided at a number of homes in her lifetime, all special for different reasons. Her principal residence and official domicile was Duke Farms, her father's 2,700 acre estate in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey. Duke's other residences were private during her lifetime: She spent summer weekends working on her Newport Restoration Foundation projects while staying at Rough Point, the 49-room English manor-style mansion that she inherited in Newport, Rhode Island. Winters were spent at an estate she built in the 1930s and named "Shangri-La" in Honolulu, Hawaii and at "Falcon's Lair" in Beverly Hills, California, once the home of Rudolph Valentino.
(Excerpted from Wikipedia)

Pond on Duke Farm
Greenhouse on Duke Farm
Open Space at Duke Farm
Mughal Garden at the Home at Duke Farm
Shangri-La in Hawaii
Shangri-La in Hawaii
Islamic Interior in Shangri-La in Hawaii
Rough Point really is a gorgeous estate … and the Doris Duke story adds to its legacy. The house is decorated and furnished exactly as Duke left it when she passed in 1993. It is filled with antiques, art, stories and history. Our tour guide was wonderful and we highly recommend visiting Rough Point if you get the chance. We have visited other Newport mansions … Marble House and Breakers … and I think Rough Point is more interesting … has a better story.

Rough Point Aerial View along the Cliff Walk
Rough Point Front of Mansion
Rough Point Entry and Stairs
Rough Point Ballroom
Rough Point with Duke's Camel Topiaries up Front

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