Travel Back in Time: Rough Point and Doris Duke

When many think of Doris Duke’s they envision the mystery and allure of an estate frozen in time in remembrance of its illustrious owner.

What people should think of, said Kristen Francoeur, assistant curator of the is how Rough Point serves as a looking glass into the personal life of Doris Duke and her many interests.

“This house is historic and also, it’s a home,” Francoeur said. “Everything is how she left it when she died. You can see personal elements of how she chose to live.”

Duke swam off the rocks every day and even had a swimming pool in the basement that pumped in the salt water when she became too old to swim in the ocean. The subtle details of Duke’s storied life can be seen during tours and events that are hosted frequently on the property.

This year, the foundation is focusing on Duke’s sporty style and is showing the water skis and bowling balls she used during her active life.

Though Duke kept active on the grounds, the property changed hands several times before it was handed over to its longest-standing resident.

Rough Point was built between 1887 and 1891 by Peadbody & Stearns, with a major addition by Horace Trumbauer in 1923. Although the original interior designer is unknown, White Allorn designed the interior again in 1922.

According to the Newport Restoration Foundation, when it was commissioned for Frederick W. Vanderbilt during the late 1800s, Rough Point replaced two wood frame houses on Bellevue Avenue as the largest house in Newport. 

Vanderbilt called Rough Point home from 1887 to 1906, when he sold the property to William Leeds, who owned it from 1906 to 1910. After his death, the estate belonged to the widowed Nancy Leeds until 1922, when it came into the hands of the Dukes.

James B. Duke owned the home for a short three years, between 1922 and 1925. Beginning in 1925, Doris Duke would call Rough Point home for almost seven decades.

Duke founded the Newport Restoration Foundation in 1968, and made sure the place she called home from May through November of every year was left to the foundation as a museum. Rough Point first opened to the public in July of 2000.

Doris Duke spent her teenage years summering in Newport overlooking the Cliff Walk from the grounds. Following a destructive hurricane in Rhode Island and the outbreak of World War II, the Dukes' visits became less and less frequent, ultimately emptying the house of all its furnishings in the early 1950s.

It wasn’t until the late 1950s that Doris Duke returned to Newport and restored Rough Point to its former glory. She gradually acquired antiques and art to decorate the house that she would later become renowned for. Her travels only added to her growing collection of unique items. She reopened the house in 1962.

Francoeur said Rough Point is a place where residents and tourists alike can discover and rediscover the allure and pull back the shroud of mystery that was Doris Duke, her life and her home.