More than a 'fancy house': How Newport's Rough Point mansion gives back to the city

The Newport Restoration Foundation recently made one of the city’s most prominent house museums, Rough Point, free for all Newport County residents, the most recent move in a yearlong effort by the organization to be an active part of the local community and make the mansion a community space.

“We’re using the square footage of Rough Point in different ways, more community-based ways, and the potential of having community programming is at least here,” Executive Director Franklin Vagnone said. “It’s possible, whereas a year ago, it was not possible.”

Who lived in Rough Point mansion?

Rough Point is a massive mansion at the end of Bellevue Avenue that was the former home of tobacco heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke. Duke founded the Newport Restoration Foundation back in 1968 to support the preservation of more than 80 Colonial homes in the city. The mansion has served as a house museum since 2003.

In addition to making Rough Point free for all Newport County residents, the Newport Restoration Foundation will also relocate its headquarters there from its current Washington Square location.

What changes were made to Rough Point?

As you walk in, some small noticeable changes reflect this yearlong effort, Vagnone pointed out. The great hall has been cleared of furniture and a stage has been erected at the front to make the space more usable for community gatherings and meetings. The dining room next door has been similarly cleared, and the museum added a record player with some of Duke’s favorite records, encouraging visitors to play music in the hall.

“We’ve even had people dance in here,” Vagnone said.

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Upstairs, visitors can also find furniture on display that was originally at another Newport Restoration Foundation museum property, Whitehorne House Museum. Since moving the collection from its previous home on Thames Street, Vagnone said more people have seen these pieces than in their previous years in Whitehorne, and the organization is now reconsidering other ways to use the Thames Street building.

Although house museums, such as Rough Point, The Breakers and Marble House have been a major tourism attraction for the city for decades, Gina Tangorra, the nonprofit’s director of engagement and presidential initiatives, said 92% of Rough Point’s visitors have been first-time visitors, and less than 6% have been Newport County residents. That latter number has risen since free admission for Newport County residents was announced.

'The Anarchists Guide to House Museums'

Vagnone was hired to lead the nonprofit organization in summer 2022. He said the foundation’s board of directors referenced his book, "The Anarchist's Guide to Historic House Museums," as a reason for selecting him to replace former Executive Director Mark Thompson, who had led the organization since 2018. The book argues that house museums should increase engagement with the community surrounding it to, among other things, shore up shrinking attendance numbers.

The Newport Restoration Foundation has also added community-focused programming to boost engagement with Newport County, such as a preservation skills workshop for local craftspeople interested in working with the city’s historic homes. The organization is also looking into ways to help legally protect historic homes from being demolished.

Vagnone and Tangorra said the effort to reinvest energy into Newport County is another way the organization can honor Duke’s legacy. Vagnone said Duke’s philanthropic contributions, while usually made anonymously, were usually to advance causes people care about to this day, such as civil rights, preserving Native American history and early research into HIV/AIDs.

“All of these things we generally think of as relatively new stuff, she was there. She just kept it quiet because she was constantly being attacked, and her money just went to support them,” Vagnone said. “What we’re doing is we’re saying ‘These are relevant to the front page of today’ … the programming is not just about coming and seeing her fancy house.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Doris Duke's Rough Point mansion now free for all Newport County residents