This article attempts to list the oldest buildings in the state of Rhode Island in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Rhode Island and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate and based on architectural studies and historical records, other dates are based on dendrochronology All entries should include citation with reference to: architectural features; a report by an architectural historian; or dendrochronology
Very few Rhode Island buildings have been tested yet using dendrochronology (less than a dozen houses as of 2019),[1] and most buildings outside of Aquidneck Island were burned in King Philip's War in the 1670s. The oldest building in Rhode Island tested using dendrochronology was the Clemence-Irons House (1691) in Johnston, although the Lucas–Johnston House in Newport holds some timbers which were felled prior to 1650, but likely reused from an earlier building.[2]
Oldest tavern in America, originally built in 1652 as a residence and expanded into a tavern in 1673, likely including parts of the original structure[4]
Retains original exterior wide oak weatherboards – on the north side, early 18th-century window sash and frames, a granite central chimney with four fireplaces and original period interior architectural detail
Johnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 29,568 at the 2020 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House (1691), a stone-ender museum, and the only landfill in Rhode Island. Incorporated on March 6, 1759, Johnston was named for the colonial attorney general, Augustus Johnston.
Thomas Alexander Tefft was an American architect, from Providence, Rhode Island. Tefft, one of the nation's first professionally trained architects, is considered a master of Rundbogenstil and a leading American proponent of its use. Prior to his untimely death, Tefft "offered the most advanced designs of [his] day in America"
The stone-ender is a unique style of Rhode Island architecture that developed in the 17th century where one wall in a house is made up of a large stone chimney.
The Newport Restoration Foundation was founded by Doris Duke in 1968 in Newport, Rhode Island to preserve early housing stock including 18th century colonial homes. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the foundation's vice president.
The Eleazer Arnold House is a historic house built for Eleazer Arnold in about 1693, and located in the Great Road Historic District at Lincoln, Rhode Island. It is now a National Historic Landmark owned by Historic New England, and open to the public on weekends.
Russell Warren (1783–1860) was an American architect, best known for his work in the Greek Revival style. He practiced in Bristol and Providence.
The Clemence–Irons House is a historic house located in Johnston, Rhode Island. It was built by Richard Clemence in 1691 and is a rare surviving example of a "stone ender", a building type first developed in the western part of England and common in colonial Rhode Island. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a historic house museum owned and operated by Historic New England. It is open Saturdays between June and mid-October.
Stone, Carpenter & Willson was a Providence, Rhode Island based architectural firm in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. It was named for the partners Alfred Stone (1834–1908), Charles E. Carpenter (1845–1923). and Edmund R. Willson (1856–1906). The firm was one of the state's most prominent.
The Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House is the oldest house in Newport, Rhode Island, built around 1697. It is also one of the oldest houses in the state. It is located at the corner of Broadway and Stone Street, in the downtown section of the city in the Newport Historic District. The house "was damaged by Stamp Act riots in 1765 when occupied by a Tory Stampmaster."
Great Friends Meeting House is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) built in 1699 in Newport, Rhode Island. The meeting house, which is part of the Newport Historic District, is currently open as a museum owned by the Newport Historical Society.
Norman Morrison Isham (1864–1943) was a prominent architectural historian, author, and professor at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He was an ardent preservationist and a pioneer in the study of early American architecture.
Richard Munday (c.1685-1739) was a prominent colonial American architect and builder in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Lucas–Johnston House is an historic colonial house in downtown Newport, Rhode Island.
The Phillip Walker House is a historic American Colonial house in East Providence, Rhode Island. It is the oldest known house in East Providence.
Six Principle Baptist Church is a historic church in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. As of 2009 it was one of the last surviving historical congregations of the Six Principle Baptist denomination and one of the oldest churches in the United States.
The Kent County Courthouse, now the East Greenwich Town Hall, is a historic court building at 127 Main Street in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Augustus Johnston was an Attorney General in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations from 1758 to 1766 and is the namesake of Johnston, Rhode Island. He also served briefly as a stamp distributor during the controversial Stamp Act 1765 protests and later fled Rhode Island after the Revolutionary War due to his Tory sympathies.
William D. Warner (1929–2012) was an American architect and urban planner in practice in Providence and Exeter, Rhode Island from 1959 to 2012.
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