Currently operating as a museum, the Marble House is another example of the stunning architectural products of the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, after getting inspired of the Petit Trianon in Versailles. The landscape was designed by Ernest Bowditch.

Built for Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt’s grandson, William Kissam Vanderbilt from 1888 to 1892, the Marble House became a social landmark, signaling the transformation of Newport from being a relaxed summer resort town to a legendary city with lavish stone palaces.

After Vanderbilt gave the Marble House to his then wife, Alva Erskine Smith, it became a venue of rallies for women’s suffrage before it was sold to Frederick Prince in 1932. Then it was donated to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1963, which owns and operates the historic house today.