Rosecliff was one of the many Gilded Age summer homes that were built in Newport during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was completed in 1902, and was originally the home of businessman Hermann Oelrichs (1850-1906) and his wife, the silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs.

The film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, directed by Jack Clayton, starred Robert Redford as the newly wealthy businessman Jay Gatsby trying to win the affection of his former love Daisy Buchanan, played by Mia Farrow through extravagant parties. Directors needed a home that balanced old money feelings with new money charm.

As the mansion took new ownership by the Preservation Society in the late 19th century with its price tag at $65.1 million, filming at the mansion became increasingly difficult. For the new rendition of the Great Gatsby with Leonardo Dicaprio in 2016, they were unable to film in most parts of the mansion so the set was constructed to mirror it's attributes. These included the great fountain in the back, marble walls and pillars, the great lawn and the grand staircase.

September 12, 1953, when Jacqueline Bouvier married then-Senator John F. Kennedy at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport, Rhode Island.