The Breakers is an opulent 70-room Italian Renaissance-style palace (1895), designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Outfitted with French and Italian stone, marble and bronze, red alabaster and gilded plaster, it was used as a summer retreat for the family of shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The two-story-high Great Hall displays a spectacular array of creamy French Caen stone pilasters. In the airy Morning Room, four corner panels representing the Muses are painted in oil on silver leaf. The Breakers' most richly embellished room is the formal Dining Room, which boasts rose alabaster columns; a vaulted ceiling ornamented with carving, oil paintings and gilt; and two 12ft-high Baccarat crystal chandeliers.