The historic mansions of Newport, RI are known for their elegance and remind its visitors of a bygone era of social and financial preeminence during the turn of the twentieth century in America. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, grandson of railroad industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) had the 70 room Italianrenaissance inspired mansion built on the site of a wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire in 1892.
