Look inside the Breakers, a 70-room, 138,300-square-foot mansion that belonged to one of America's wealthiest Gilded Age families

Completed in 1895, the Breakers is now a museum that preserves the extravagant wealthy lifestyle of a millionaire family in the Gilded Age.

The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island.

Alexander Nesbitt – The Preservation Society of Newport County

Adult admission to the Breakers costs $29. Tickets can be purchased through The Preservation Society of Newport County.

The Breakers offers self-guided audio tours through the Newport Mansions app, which I downloaded when I visited in August.

The first stop on the tour was the jaw-dropping Great Hall.

The Great Hall.

Alexander Nesbitt/The Preservation Society of Newport County

The Vanderbilts hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to design the Renaissance-style home.

Hunt modeled the Great Hall after the Opera House in Paris and the open-air courtyards of Italy in the 16th century, according to the audio tour.

The audio tour pointed out unique details in a fireplace alcove: cherubs accompanied by railroad imagery.

An engraving above a door at the Breakers.

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In a nod to the Vanderbilts’ steamship and railroad business ventures, the cherub on the left held an anchor as a locomotive chugged past it. On the right, the other cherub held a sledgehammer and railroad spike.

“It’s really humorous to see classical cherubs celebrating the rise of an industrial empire,” architectural historian John Tschirch said in the audio tour. “But that’s what the Gilded Age was all about — combining the old imagery of the classical world with the technology of the new.”

The Great Hall opened out to a porch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A balcony at the Breakers.

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Outdoor spaces functioned as additional rooms in Gilded Age mansions.

In the Dining Room, the Vanderbilts entertained other wealthy members of Gilded Age society.

The Dining Room.

John W. Corbett – The Preservation Society of Newport County

The room was decorated with alabaster columns and Baccarat crystal chandeliers powered by electricity, a state-of-the-art technology during the Gilded Age.

A painting on the gilded ceiling depicted Aurora, the goddess of dawn.

The ceiling of the Dining Room.

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The Gilded Age was named for the practice of gilding, or covering surfaces with a thin, decorative layer of gold.

Mark Twain coined the name as a criticism of the inequality that existed during the period, implying that while the displays of wealth were beautiful on the surface, they also signified an underbelly of corruption.

Hunt, the architect, took inspiration from ancient Rome while designing the Billiard Room.

The Billiard Room.

Gavin Ashworth/The Preservation Society of Newport County

Marble mosaics covered the entire floor and ceiling. The wrought-iron and bronze light fixture over the billiard table was so heavy it had to be attached to the structural beams of the Breakers in order to stay up.

On an episode of the HBO show “The Gilded Age,” Alderman Morris and George Russell played a round of billiards in this room after dinner.

The floor of the Billiard Room featured acorns, the symbol of the Vanderbilt family.

The floor of the Billiard Room.

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The acorn symbol represented strength and long life, according to the audio tour. I spotted acorn designs throughout the home on its gilded ceilings and ornate carvings.

The walls in the Billiard Room were made of Cipollino marble that the Vanderbilts imported from Switzerland.

A wall in the Billiard Room.

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In a technique called bookmatching, each piece of marble was cut in half to create two identical slabs for a uniform look throughout the room.

The Morning Room was designed by French decorator Jules Allard in the French and Italian Renaissance style.

The Morning Room.

Alexander Nesbitt/The Preservation Society of Newport County

Allard operated interior design branches in Paris and New York during the Gilded Age. The Preservation Society of Newport County possesses the largest collection of Allard’s works.

Shining platinum panels in the walls showed the Muses, Greek goddesses of the arts.

Platinum wall panels in the Breakers.

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Conservators assumed that panels on the walls were decorated with silver leaf, but when they never seemed to tarnish, tests with a portable X-ray machine revealed that they were actually made of platinum, chief conservator of the Preservation Society of Newport County, Jeff Moore, said on the audio tour.

The Vanderbilts played music and hosted concerts in their Music Room.

The Music Room.

Alexander Nesbitt/The Preservation Society of Newport County

Cornelius Vanderbilt played the violin, and his wife, Alice Vanderbilt, played the piano.

The Music Room also served as a set for the HBO show “The Gilded Age.”

The Music Room.

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In the show, the wealthy Russell family hosted their daughter Gladys’ debut ball at their mansion. The Music Room at the Breakers stood in as the Russells’ ballroom.

The Library served as a private space for the Vanderbilt family to relax and take their afternoon tea.

The Library.

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The centerpiece of the room, the stone fireplace, came from a French chateau and dates back 500 years.

In keeping with the bookish theme, craftsmen pressed gold leaf into the wood panels to make it look like a leather book cover.

Walls in the library at the Breakers.

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The walls in the cabinets in the room were crafted from Circassian walnut imported from Russia and Turkey.

Recessed boxes called coffers adorned the ceiling.

The ceiling of the library in the Breakers.

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Every other box featured dolphin imagery, a symbol of hospitality in the Gilded Age.

The tour continued on the second floor with the Vanderbilts’ daughter Gladys’ room.

Gladys Vanderbilt’s bedroom.

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Rooms on the second floor featured simpler furnishings designed by interior decorator Ogden Codman.

A portrait of Gladys, who later became known as Countess Széchenyi, hung above her bed.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II slept in a bedroom down the hall.

Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s bedroom.

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Cornelius Vanderbilt II only spent one summer in the Breakers before he had a stroke in 1896 and died three years later.

The Breakers had a total of 20 bathrooms.

A bathroom at the Breakers.

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The bathroom next to Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s room featured a marble tub so thick that it had to be filled and emptied several times before it stayed warm enough. Carved from a single block of marble, the tub’s design emulated that of a Roman sarcophagus.

Alice Vanderbilt’s room also functioned as an office where she managed household affairs.

Alice Vanderbilt’s bedroom.

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Like most wealthy women in the Gilded Age, Alice Vanderbilt went upstairs to change her clothes several times a day depending on the activity.

She could communicate with servants through a phone on her bedside table.

A telephone next to Alice Vanderbilt’s bed.

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The phone connected to call buttons for butlers, housekeepers, and other staff members.

The Vanderbilts’ oldest daughter, Gertrude, slept in this room with pink floral wallpaper.

Gertrude Vanderbilt’s room.

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Gertrude Vanderbilt married Harry Payne Whitney, became a sculptor, and went on to found the Whitney Museum in New York City.

Codman decorated one of the guest bedrooms with paneled walls in a design that wouldn’t have been out of place in 18th-century France.

A guest bedroom at the Breakers.

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The room featured four Neoclassical panels representing the four seasons of the year.

The top of the grand staircase featured a portrait of Alice Vanderbilt painted by Spanish artist Ricardo Federico de Madrazo y Garreta.

The grand staircase at the Breakers.

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The steps on the grand staircase were designed to be 2 inches shorter than regular stairs. This helped women in long ball gowns descend more easily.

Out in the hallway, speaking tubes allowed servants to communicate with each other in an early intercom system.

Speaking tubes at the Breakers.

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The Breakers contained 33 bedrooms for its 40 staff members, accessible through a servant staircase.

Downstairs, a safe in the butler’s pantry stored the Vanderbilts’ 1,000-piece set of monogrammed silver from Tiffany & Co.

The butler’s pantry.

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The butler’s pantry also featured a warming oven to keep food warm between courses and cabinets of the family’s china and crystal.

In the kitchen, an enormous cast-iron stove was powered by coal and wood as a team of cooks prepared French cuisine for the Vanderbilts.

The kitchen at the Breakers.

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The Breakers’ kitchen appeared as part of the Russells’ mansion in “The Gilded Age.”

The kitchen led out into the gift shop and the exit, where visitors could explore the sprawling grounds.

A garden at the Breakers.

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The 13-acre property included colorful flower gardens and views of the Atlantic Ocean.

The grounds also featured European beech trees imported from overseas.

A European beech tree on the grounds of the Breakers.

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The trees, which can grow up to 45 feet wide, served as a status symbol on large Gilded Age estates.

While the Vanderbilts regarded the Breakers as their summer “cottage,” its lavish interiors are nothing short of remarkable.

The Breakers viewed from the southeast.

Gavin Ashworth – The Preservation Society of Newport County

The Breakers mansion remains one of the finest examples of the extravagant displays of wealth that defined the Gilded Age. Walking through enormous rooms glittering with gold furnishings, painstaking mosaics, and painted ceilings, I felt as if I were touring a European palace — just as its millionaire owners intended.