What is the Cliff Walk?

A path between mansions and the ocean

Newport Mansions Quiz: The Breakers and Gilded Age Cottages

This Newport mansions quiz tours the grand seaside homes of Rhode Island's Gilded Age millionaires. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on The Breakers and Cornelius Vanderbilt II, architect Richard Morris Hunt, Marble House, the Cliff Walk, The Elms, Rosecliff and The Great Gatsby, the Preservation Society and the term Gilded Age.

Start Newport Mansions Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

State
Which state is Newport in?
Cottage
What did rich families call their Newport mansions?
Breakers
Who built The Breakers?
Architect
Which architect designed The Breakers?
Marble
Which mansion was built for William K. Vanderbilt?
Walk
What is the Cliff Walk?
Era
Who coined the term Gilded Age?
Film
Which mansion appeared in the 1974 film The Great Gatsby?
Society
Which group cares for many of the mansions today?
Size
About how many rooms does The Breakers have?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which state is Newport in?
Answer: Rhode Island
It is on Aquidneck Island.
Q2: What did rich families call their Newport mansions?
Answer: Summer cottages
The name was a playful understatement.
Q3: Who built The Breakers?
Answer: Cornelius Vanderbilt II
It was completed in 1895.
Q4: Which architect designed The Breakers?
Answer: Richard Morris Hunt
He also designed Marble House.
Q5: Which mansion was built for William K. Vanderbilt?
Answer: Marble House
It was finished in 1892.
Q6: What is the Cliff Walk?
Answer: A path between mansions and the ocean
It runs about 3.5 miles.
Q7: Who coined the term Gilded Age?
Answer: Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
Their 1873 novel had that title.
Q8: Which mansion appeared in the 1974 film The Great Gatsby?
Answer: Rosecliff
Its ballroom is famous.
Q9: Which group cares for many of the mansions today?
Answer: The Preservation Society of Newport County
It opens them for tours.
Q10: About how many rooms does The Breakers have?
Answer: About 70
It is the grandest of the cottages.

Inside the Gilded Age Summer Cottages

In the late 1800s, America's richest families spent summers in Newport, Rhode Island. They called their enormous homes summer cottages, a joke given their size. Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner coined the term Gilded Age for this era of glittering wealth and deep inequality.

The Breakers, completed in 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, has about 70 rooms and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who also created Marble House for William K. Vanderbilt in 1892. The Elms copied a French chateau, and Rosecliff's ballroom appeared in the 1974 film The Great Gatsby.

Visitors can follow the Cliff Walk, a path of about 3.5 miles between the mansions' lawns and the Atlantic. The Preservation Society of Newport County cares for many homes and opens them for tours. Television's The Gilded Age has also filmed scenes in these opulent rooms.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

Who built the mansions
Who designed them
What the era was called
Which mansions are famous
How to visit today

Did You Know?

Servants often outnumbered family members in these homes.
Newport also hosts famous jazz and folk festivals.
The Breakers is a National Historic Landmark.
Many rooms used marble imported from Europe.
Owners usually stayed only a few weeks each summer.