The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection in Newport, R.I.—a historic Gilded Age mansion turned boutique luxury hotel—sets the stage for Halloween’s most exclusive event.
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection
Newport, R.I., a town where America’s aristocracy once summered with trucks stuffed with tiaras, has never been shy about its provenance. This Halloween in Newport, R.I., The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection will raise the velvet curtain for something more spectral: Ghosts of the American Revolution. Guests will don powered wigs in candlelit corridors, with the hum of musket fire dissolving into a waltz. If Halloween and Gilded glam are your thing, this is the premier haunted high society event of the season.
The Vanderbilt Mansion: History, With A Halloween Haunting Twist
A cozy corner at The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection in Newport, R.I., where fireside elegance sets the stage for Halloween’s most exclusive soirée
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection
The Georgian-style mansion dates to 1908, when Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt built it as a tribute to his late father, Cornelius Vanderbilt II. He donated the property, located in the heart of downtown Newport, to the local YMCA. A few iterations later, The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection emerged as a tapestry of Newport’s Gilded Age.
But the story of the property is equal parts charity and tragedy. Cornelius Vanderbilt II died at the relatively young age of 55, when his son was 21. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt died even younger, at age 37, aboard the RMS Lusitania when it sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1915. And the mansion rose up as the younger Vanderbilt was in the process of separating from his first wife, the former Ellen Tuck French.
The Vanderbilt property testifies to the lavish lifestyle of a famous American aristocracy — and the cost of comfort.
A Feast Of Decadence – Halloween in Newport, RI
The Vanderbilt’s bar in Newport, R.I., pours history and high spirits in equal measure—an inviting backdrop for the mansion’s Gilded Age–inspired Halloween soirée
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection
In previous years, the mansion has hosted immersive evenings such as Cabinet of Curiosities and Menagerie at the Mansion, each with its own theme and entertainment. What makes this year distinctive is the introduction of Ghosts of the American Revolution, a concept that draws directly from Newport’s colonial heritage and reimagines it through a supernatural lens. Candlelit halls promise to come alive with ghostly patriots, rebellious specters, and haunted aristocrats, setting the stage for an unforgettable night.
The Halloween soirée allows The Vanderbilt to celebrate the property’s history in a playful, unexpected way, while also allowing guests and the local community to engage with the hotel beyond traditional dining or accommodations.
The cocktail reception starts at 7 p.m. on Halloween night, including an open bar, passed and stationed food for hotel guests and non-resident visitors age 21 and up. Not guaranteed—but not outside the realm of possibilities— is the occasional ghost who prefers champagne over chains.
Theater In The Shadows – Halloween With No Ring Circus
A candlelit dining room at The Vanderbilt in Newport, R.I., where Gilded Age grandeur meets modern elegance—an ideal setting for the mansion’s immersive Halloween soirée
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection
Entertainment is supplied by New York’s No Ring Circus, a troupe as delightfully disobedient as its name suggests. They have been known to bring magicians, mentalists, singers, dancers, fortune tellers, and sword-swallowers. Expect them to glide through the crowd as if they slipped in from another century.
As a venue for performance art, Halloween at the Vanderbilt Mansion is both the time and the place. Its bifurcated imperial staircase is precisely where Halloween partygoers go big or go home—or go back for another cocktail.
Halloween In Newport, RI: Why Newport, Why Now
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection in Newport, R.I.—a historic Gilded Age mansion turned boutique luxury hotel—sets the stage for Halloween’s most exclusive event.
The Vanderbilt Auberge Resorts Collection
Halloween fêtes are not in short supply, and Newport hosts a fair share of Halloween events this time of year, but Ghosts of the American Revolution is not content with mere masks and cobwebs. Costumes are encouraged. Guests are welcome to interpret the theme in creative ways, whether drawing inspiration from Newport’s colonial past, adding a touch of glamour with a supernatural twist, or simply arriving in festive attire that captures the spirit of the evening. The entire main level and all public spaces will be in-use for the Halloween event.
It is a declaration that Newport—city of Gilded Age grandeur—still knows how to command the spotlight with wit, elegance, and the occasional apparition.