Rough Point has achieved Level 1 arboretum accreditation through ArbNet, the Newport Restoration Foundation announced Thursday.
The designation recognizes the approximately 11-acre landscape on Newport’s rugged Atlantic Coast, which preserves the legacies of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and philanthropist, preservationist and conservationist Doris Duke. ArbNet unites arboreta, botanic gardens with woody plant collections and tree advocates around the world in a community dedicated to the planting, study and conservation of trees.
“The Rough Point Arboretum accreditation honors the legacies of Frederick Law Olmsted and our founder Doris Duke while advancing the Newport Restoration Foundation’s commitment to cultural landscape preservation and resiliency,” NRF Executive Director Hilary Fagan said. “We look forward to increasing our impact through future collaborations with our community partners.”
Highlights of the arboretum include a variety of evergreen shrubs, among them a large specimen Yew (Taxus cuspidate) planted by Duke, and a large Turkish Oak (Quercus cerris) dating to about 1850. The Turkish Oak is a Rhode Island Champion Tree registered with the Rhode Island Tree Council and has been propagated by the Newport Tree Conservancy.
Joe Verstandig, living collections manager at the Newport Tree Conservancy, said the organization is “very excited to work with the Newport Restoration Foundation and the staff at Rough Point to assist with curating their woody plant collection and to help plant new trees and shrubs in this historic landscape.”
Duke, who lived from 1912 to 1993, gifted Rough Point to NRF to be opened to the public as a museum. The foundation provides programs, special tours and educational workshops at the site in support of its stewardship mission.
NRF said the accreditation marks an important step in its stewardship of Rough Point and will support the ongoing care and accessibility of the site.
Founded in 1968 by Duke, NRF stewards more than 80 historic buildings and landscapes, including 70 houses occupied by tenants through its Tenant Stewardship program. Rough Point Museum and the Vernon House are the foundation’s two public-facing sites. NRF also maintains a collection of more than 10,000 fine and decorative art objects, including 18th-century Newport furniture, more than 2,000 fashion objects and more than 150 linear feet of institutional and architectural archives.
ArbNet has accredited more than 800 arboreta across 40 countries since its inception and was honored with the American Public Gardens Association Program Excellence Award in 2022. Its founding organization is The Morton Arboretum, a tree-focused botanical garden and research center.
Rough Point Museum and its grounds and gardens are open seasonally and are free for Newport County residents. More information is available at newportrestoration.org.
