Francis Malbone House | |
Location | Newport, Rhode Island |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°28′58″N71°18′54″W / 41.48278°N 71.31500°W |
Built | 1758 |
Architect | Peter Harrison |
Architectural style | Georgian |
Part of | Newport Historic District (ID68000001) |
NRHP reference No. | 75000055 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 28, 1975 |
Designated NHLDCP | November 24, 1968 |
The Francis Malbone House is a historic house at 392 Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island.
The house dates from 1760 and its design is attributed to Peter Harrison, a prominent architect of the period, responsible also for the Touro Synagogue and the Redwood Library, both important early Newport buildings.
In 1975 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The building was constructed "in 1760 as a private residence for Colonel Francis Malbone (1728 - 1785), who made his fortune as a shipping merchant at a time when Newport Harbor was one of the busiest Harbors in the New World. He is believed to have smuggled merchandise into the house to avoid taxes. Subterranean passages found in the cellar have been traced to a subway leading to the pier where Colonel Malbone moored his fleet. This was a practice common in the Free Port of Newport, and one upon which many Newport fortunes were founded." [2]
The British occupied Newport during the American Revolution "and seized the Malbone Estate. The mansion was used to store looted gold and treasures, leading to its nickname, "the treasure house."" [2]
After the American Revolution, "the mansion was returned to the Malbone family who retained ownership until the early 1830s. After the death of Colonel Malbone in 1785, his son, also named Francis Malbone, who later became United States Senator, owned the estate until his death in 1809. In 1770, famed painter, Gilbert Stuart painted the portrait of the younger Francis Malbone and his brother Saunders, which now hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts." [2]
In the early 1800s, prior to the building of the famous mansions on Bellevue Avenue, the Malbone House was one of the most opulent houses in Newport. It was owned from 1833 to 1838 by Colonel Joseph G. Totten of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. At that time, Colonel Totten was in charge of construction of Fort Adams and was also the senior Army engineer in the northeast. He sold the house in 1838 when he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Army.
Dr. James R. Newton owned the house in 1850 and built a brick office on the estate for his doctor's office, now known as "The Counting House". [2]
The Francis Malbone house was restored in the early 1970s. The front door of the mansion features an Ionic doorway very similar to the Ionic portico of the Touro Synagogue. The floor plan features a broad central hall with flanking rooms on either side. The hall has a high divided arch, the stairs are fitted with ramped rail and twisted balusters. The stair landing is lit by a Palladian window. The front parlors feature plush paneling, a sign of wealth in colonial times. Two-story pediment mantels adorn the fireplace walls and a broken scroll tops the one in the northwest parlor. [2]
In 1989, the house was converted to an inn, with nine guest rooms. In 1996, a "sensitively designed addition" was built, allowing the inn to expand to eighteen guestrooms. [2]
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the colonial era, and the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America. In 1946, it was declared a National Historic Site.
Joseph Gilbert Totten fought in the War of 1812, served as Chief of Engineers and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences. In 1836, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Malbone is one of the oldest mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. The original mid-18th century estate was the country residence of Col. Godfrey Malbone of Virginia and Connecticut. The main house burned down during a dinner party in 1766 and the remaining structure sat dormant for many years until New York lawyer Jonathan Prescott Hall built a new roughly 5,800 sq ft (540 m2) castellated residence directly on top of the old ivy-covered ruins.
Fort Adams is a former United States Army post in Newport, Rhode Island, that was established on July 4, 1799, as a First System coastal fortification, named for President John Adams, who was in office at the time. Its first commanding officer was Captain John Henry who was later instrumental in starting the War of 1812. The current Fort Adams was built between 1824 and 1857 under the Third System of coastal forts; it is part of Fort Adams State Park today.
Judah Touro was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Hunter House (1748) is a historic house in Newport, Rhode Island. It is located at 54 Washington Street in the Easton's Point neighborhood, near the northern end of the Newport Historic District.
Peter Harrison was a colonial American architect in New England who is credited with bringing the Palladian architectural movement to the colonies.
The Newport Historic District is a historic district that covers 250 acres in the center of Newport in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1968 due to its extensive and well-preserved assortment of intact colonial buildings dating from the early and mid-18th century. Six of those buildings are themselves NHLs in their own right, including the city's oldest house and the former meeting place of the colonial and state legislatures. Newer and modern buildings coexist with the historic structures.
The Newport Artillery Company of Newport, Rhode Island was chartered in 1741 by the Rhode Island General Assembly during the reign of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest military unit in the United States operating under its original charter, and the company maintains a museum in its historic armory. The company has served in wars ranging from the French and Indian War to the First World War. Individual members of the Company have served in every war fought by the United States.
The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair of cemeteries was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single listing in 1974.
The Levi H. Gale House is a historic house at 85 Touro Street in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
The Kay Street–Catherine Street–Old Beach Road Historic District is a historic district in Newport, Rhode Island. The area is located north of Newport's well-known Bellevue Avenue, and encompasses an area that was developed residentially between about 1830 and 1890, for the most part before the Gilded Age mansions were built further south. The district is bounded on the south by Memorial Boulevard, on the east by Easton's Pond, on the west by Bellevue Avenue and Kay and Bull Streets, and on the north by Broadway, Rhode Island Avenue, Prairie Avenue, and Champlin Street. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 22, 1973, with a boundary decrease in 2018.
St. Thomas Synagogue, officially Congregation Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasadim or The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, is a historic Reform Jewish synagogue located at 2116 Crystal Gade, Queens Quarters, in Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The synagogue building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
Chepstow is an Italianate house museum located at 120 Narragansett Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, built in 1860. It originally served as a summer "cottage", but the Preservation Society of Newport County now owns the property. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Ochre Point-Cliffs Historic District in 1975 and within the Historic District of the City of Newport.
Thames Street is a historic street in Newport, Rhode Island that is one of the oldest continuously used streets in the state. It remains the primary street in downtown Newport and runs parallel along the waterfront.
Fall Hill is a plantation located near the falls on the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Though the Thornton family has lived at Fall Hill since the early 18th century, the present house was built in 1790 for Francis Thornton V (1760–1836). The land on which Fall Hill is located is part of an 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) land patent obtained by Francis Thornton I (1657–1727) around 1720. The present-day town of Fredericksburg, Virginia is located on that original patent.
Timeline of Newport, Rhode Island.
Thomas Breese was an American naval officer. Best known for his service under Oliver Hazard Perry during the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie, he served in the United States Navy for another 33 years, including as a paymaster for over two decades.
Dudley Newton (1845-1907) was an American architect from Newport, Rhode Island.