Lesson plan

The Breakers

The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mansion, with a gross area of and of living area on five floors, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Renaissance Revival style; the interior decor was by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman Jr. The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by baroque forged wrought iron gates, and the walkway gates are part of a limestone-and-iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The footprint of the house covers approximately or 43,000 square feet of the estate on the cliffs overlooking Easton Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It is also a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. The property is owned and operated by the Newport Preservation Society as a historic house museum and is open for visits all year.

Back to article

Article summary

The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The 70-room mansion, with a gross area of and of living area on five floors, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Renaissance Revival style; the interior decor was by Jules Allard and Sons and Ogden Codman Jr. The Ochre Point Avenue entrance is marked by baroque forged wrought iron gates, and the walkway gates are part of a limestone-and-iron fence that borders the property on all but the ocean side. The footprint of the house covers approximately or 43,000 square feet of the estate on the cliffs overlooking Easton Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It is also a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. The property is owned and operated by the Newport Preservation Society as a historic house museum and is open for visits all year.

Key claims

  1. date of death: 1899 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of death: 1934 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "1899". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of death is "1934". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1376097776

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.