In 1968, Doris Duke established the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) with the express purpose of preserving, interpreting, and maintaining landscape and objects reflecting the 18th- and 19th-century architectural culture of Aquidneck Island (Newport, R.I.). In creating the foundation, Doris Duke had a simple plan: to purchase dilapidated 18th century homes and meticulously restore them so that every detail was as historically accurate as possible. During the next three decades, preservation remained a major focus among her many charitable endeavors. Saving eighty-three properties was an undertaking on a scale and scope that has never been repeated. Doris Duke gave $21.9 million to the Newport Restoration Foundation, the largest philanthropic gift she made to a single organization during her lifetime. The collection documents the daily business activities of the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF), including purchases, renovations, and renting of various NRF homes, photo inventories of the furniture and other household items at each restored NRF home, weekly progress reports, and other routine matters. The architectural records in this collection are related to the renovation of several of the NRF homes. The materials in this collection are arranged chronologically and alphabetically thereunder.

The Newport Restoration Foundation Records (formerly NRF.12) are part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Historical Archives which were donated to the Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The collection spans the years 1968 to 1999, although a bulk of the material dates from 1968 to 1982. While the collection is arranged into three series: Adminstrative Records, Financial Records, and Architectural Records, the majority of materials are financial records associated with the daily operations and management of the foundation and its assets. Overall, the collection documents the daily business activities of the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF), including purchases, renovations, and renting of various NRF homes, photo inventories of the furniture and other household items at each restored NRF home, weekly progress reports, and other routine matters. The architectural records in this collection are related to the renovation of several of the NRF homes. The materials in this collection are arranged chronologically and alphabetically thereunder.