While the Marble House is considered to be the extravagant summer house of the Vanderbilt family because of its extravagant architectural designs, The Breakers is considered to be the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages".The Breakers were purchased as a wooden house by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt in the 18th century. It was then renovated to a villa replacing the earlier wood-framed house that was destroyed by fire.
Richard Hunt, (also the architect of Marble House) redesigned the villa creating a 70-room Italian Renaissance style palazzo as inspired by the 16th century palaces of Geno and Turin.
Furnishings and fixtures were done by Allard and Sons of Paris, while the relief sculpture was done by Karl Bitter, an Austro-American sculptor. The family quarters' decorations were courtesy of Ogden Codman, an architect from Boston.
