The Rough Point Arboretum is approximately eleven acres and situated on the rugged Atlantic Coast and features the landscape legacies of two important stewards, Frederick Law Olmsted and Doris Duke. The original landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Olmsted Brothers firm and was built between 1887-1901. Olmsted’s planting strategy for Rough Point was to overplant the estate, which would protect some plants while others had time to establish aka survival of the fittest. Subsequent owners, and adverse coastal weather took their toll, and Olmsted’s original plantings faded away over time until all that remains today is a stand of Wyck Elms and Beech trees in the northeast corner of the property. Olmsted had retained already established trees in his plan including a large Turkish Oak, Quercus cerris dated to possibly 1851 and still with us.

The Duke family purchased Rough Point in 1922. James Duke passed away soon after and his daughter took over the stewardship of the property. Doris Duke inherited Rough Point and her father’s love of horticulture and ecology and during her tenure at Rough Point, she directed the planting of the gardens and woody trees and shrubs for the grounds. This proved to be an ongoing effort as the Atlantic coast climate, seasonal storms and hurricanes (1954), and poor soils proved challenging and Duke Farm in NJ supplied the gardens and grounds with plants every year. In addition to the gardens, Doris’ notable contributions to the arboretum includes a variety of evergreen shrubs including a large specimen Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata), and surviving rhododendrons, which were a favorite of hers.

Miss Duke bequeathed Rough Point into the care of the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF), to be opened to the public as a museum. The NRF, The Olmsted Foundation and Duke University, house archives that include Olmsted’s plans, planting plans and plant lists as well as Doris Duke’s seasonal plant orders for Duke Farms. These archives along with native and coastal resilient plant lists, are an important resource to determine future planting at Rough Point. It is the intention of the Newport Restoration Foundation to further develop the Rough Point Arboretum as a coastal resilient arboretum, focused on the preservation of this historic landscape design, increasing our native woody plant diversity, and becoming an educational resource for resilient coastal landscapes.