America’s First Resort - Newport, RI

Cute Downtowns

May 12

Newport is a beautiful city and worth a visit no matter what time of the year. Located on the southern end of Aquidneck Island, it has a historic district that includes an extensive and well-preserved variety of intact colonial buildings dating back to the early and mid-18th century. Some of these homes still stand the way they were 250 years ago, but many were restored in the late 20th century through grants made by Newport resident Doris Duke and the Newport Restoration Foundation.

This is what caught my eye, I hope you enjoy!

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Restored colonial homes in town

The First Congressional Church

Newport’s Old Stone Mill in Touro Park with Channing Memorial Church in the distance.

The shingle-style International Tennis Hall of Fame began as a bet lost by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., son of New York Herald publisher who dared his polo partner to ride a horse into the men’s social club, the Reading Room. Bennett lost his membership and hired Charles McKim in late 1879 to build the casino.

There are still some private estates with imposing entrance gates.

Newport has art, culture, sailing, restaurants, swimming, shopping, mansions and local wineries and breweries. No trip to Newport is complete without a stroll on Cliff Walk with elegant lawns leading up to the Breakers, Rosecliff, Rough Point and Marble House. The panoramic ocean views, with waves crashing on the rock cliffs, provide the perfect backdrop for an afternoon or morning stroll on the 3.5 mile meandering path.

The remnants of the Theodore M. Davis’ Queen Anne-style mansion The Reef, which was built in 1885. The mansion and estate is said to have been cursed. Today the property is Brenton Point State Park.

The balcony in The Breakers mansion

Miantonomi Hill is the location of this World War I memorial and the location of Thomas Cornell’s execution for the murder of his mother.

Two views inside the WWI memorial

This building located on Thames Street, the first street in the United States that was lit by gas lamp, was built in 1890.

Explore Green Animals Topiary, the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the old Casino building. Walk down to Bowen’s and Bannister’s Wharves on Narragansett Bay and enjoy the bay view. Walk around Fort Adams State Park, or take a drive to Brenton Point State Park and get sunset shots along the way. Wander down Thames Street with dozens of surviving colonial buildings.

Here is what caught my eye. I hope you enjoy!

Decorative storm drain cover

The John Bannister House was built in 1761.

Newport is a perfect getaway in any season.

A “very closed” gallery window with the reflection of Trinity Church, built in 1726

The view of the rocky shore from Cliff Walk

Newport houses are loaded with history and charm

The Misto gatehouse was once the gardener’s cottage for Catherine Lorrilard Wolfe’s sprawling Vineland estate, one of seven former Gilded Age estates that make up the 80-acre campus of Salve Regina.

Newport, Rhode Island, has the highest concentration of colonial homes in the United States.

Charming yellow Victorian-style home

A view of Orche Point as seen from the Cliff Walk

Dark Victorian interior of Chateau-Sur-Mer

Here is another mansion along Cliff Walk

Steps to Bailey’s Beach

Sunset at Brenton Point State Park

Sun setting off of Ocean Avenue

Beach section off of Cliff Walk

Brenton Point State Park sunset

The Pilgrim Inn B & B on Spring Street in the heart of the Historic District

Beautiful rocky shore

Architectural details of one of the 20 historic structures on the Salve Regina campus

Situated along the famed Cliff Walk, Ochre Court is the main administration building for Salve Regina. Commissioned by Ogden Goblet, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and completed in 1892, it is the second largest Newport “cottage” after the Breakers.

Architectural details

Beautiful sunset sky off of Ocean Avenue

The Clairborne Pell Bridge, also known as the Newport Bridge, spans the Narragansett Bay.

Bishop’s 4th Street Diner

Zelda’s on Thames Street in the Historic District

The dramatic shoreline

Chepstow, an Italianate-style mansion built in 1860, was designed by George Chaplin Mason, for Edmund Schermerhorn.

The Bishop’s 4th Street diner has been serving up food since 1967.

This mansion may look familiar to some of you as the Collingswood mansion, on the 1960’s gothic series “Dark Shadows”. The 44,000 square foot mansion with 29 bedrooms and 18.5 bathrooms on 8 acres, borders Cliff Walk.

Munroe Center of Salve Regina was originally the stables / carriage house for the Wakehurst estate built in 1888.

Colonial buildings in shades of yellow

Along Cliff Walk

White clapboard with front porch

Rough Point, at the end of Bellevue Avenue, was originally built for a Vanderbilt family member. It went on to become the home of heiress, collector and philanthropist, Doris Duke.

Brenton Point State Park

The architecturally significant Audrain Auto Museum on Bellevue Avenue was built between 1901 and 1902.

House with a view

Open fields and blue skies

Picturesque rocky coast view

Cliff Walk along the ocean

A moon gate or moon bridge, provides another remnant of a gilded age estate.

Sunset

Traditionally, Southern and Caribbean planters and merchants had made Newport their home to escape the heat of the tropical summers, and George Nobel Jones of Savannah, Georgia was no different. Pictured here is one of the twin parlors of Mr. Jones’ Kingscote, which was completed in 1841, and one of the first Newport “cottages” to be built.

Exterior of Kingscote

The seaport

The silhouette of the Victorian mansion designed for William Shepard Wetmore

Château-sur-Mer was designed by Richard Morris Hunt for William Shepard Wetmore and Antique Derby Rogers and their children.

Part of the Newport Art Museum occupies the former John N A Griswold House.

The historic Victorian-style Old Fire Station No. 1 was constructed in 1885. It housed one of the nation’s first organized fire companies known as Old Torrent No. 1. Today it has been covered to a private residence.

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