The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages". In 1893 Cornelius Vanderbilt II, grandson of Commadore Cornelius Vanderbilt, commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace an earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire. It took an international team of craftsmen and artisans to complete the 70 room Italian Renaissance-style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. The Newport Preservation Society purchased the house in 1972 and today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.