The Breakers mansion, which is in Newport Road Island, was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1895. The mansion is currently by a non-profit group called the Preservation Society of Newport County. Earlier this month 21 members of the Vanderbilt family signed a letter complaining about the management of the mansion. The family members have threatened to withhold donations to the mansion because they disagree with “the current leadership climate.” Donald Ross, the chairman of the preservation society, responded to the letter by stating that the signers of the letter have only contributed a total of $4,000 and that only 7% of the objects in the Breakers mansion were on loan from the family. Ross also went on to state that two of the signers of the letter currently live in the mansion with permission from the Society.
See Vanderbilt Family Locked In Feud Over ‘America’s Downtown Abbey,’ Associated Press, The Guardian, May 19, 2015.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
