Preservation Society of Newport County

Last updated
Preservation Society of Newport County
Founded1945
Founder Katherine Warren
Typenon-profit
PurposePreserve a collection of historic house museums in Newport County
HeadquartersBellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island
Region served
Newport County, Rhode Island
CEO & Executive Director
Trudy Coxe
Website newportmansions.org
The largest of the Preservation Society's mansions, The Breakers The Breakers, exterior.jpg
The largest of the Preservation Society's mansions, The Breakers

The Preservation Society of Newport County is a private, non-profit organization based in Newport, Rhode Island. It is Rhode Island's largest and most-visited cultural organization. The organization protects the architectural heritage of Newport County, especially the Bellevue Avenue Historic District. Seven of its 14 historic properties and landscapes are National Historic Landmarks, and most are open to the public.

Contents

The organization has filed lawsuits to block offshore wind farms in Rhode Island, arguing that wind farms harm scenic views and threaten "historic resources". [1] [2]

History

The Preservation Society of Newport County was founded in 1945 by a group of Newport residents led by Katherine and George Warren to save Hunter House from demolition. They were known as the Georgian Society until they changed their name to the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt's widow, bequeathed $1.25 million to the society upon her death in 1978. [3]

Properties open to the public

ImageNameYear built
(*circa)
StyleArchitectRefs
ArnoldBuryingGround.sign.jpg
Arnold Burying Ground Founded 1675Cemetery
The Breakers, exterior ii.jpg
The Breakers 1895 Neo Italian Renaissance Richard Morris Hunt [4]
Chateau Sur Mer, Newport, RI.JPG
Chateau-sur-Mer 1852 (remodeled 1870s) Seth C. Bradford (construction)
Richard Morris Hunt (renovations)
Ogden Codman, Jr. (design)
[5]
Chepstow mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.jpg
Chepstow 1860 Italianate George Champlin Mason Sr.
John Grovesnor (1978 addition)
The Elms - Rhode Island.jpg
The Elms 1901 Classical Revival Horace Trumbauer [6] [7]
IMG 3915 - panoramio.jpg
Green Animals Topiary Garden c.1860VictorianJoseph Carreiro, George Mendonca (Gardeners) [8]
Hunter House, Newport, RI edit1.jpg
Hunter House 1748–1754 Georgian
Isaac Bell House 2018-06-13.jpg
Isaac Bell House 1883 Shingle style McKim, Mead and White
Kingscote 02.jpg
Kingscote 1839 (remodeled 1870s, remodeled 1880s) Gothic Revival Richard Upjohn
George C. Mason (1870s renovation)
McKim, Mead and White (1880s renovation)
[9]
Marble House, Newport RI Marble House, Newport RI.jpg
Marble House, Newport RI
Marble House 1892 Beaux-Arts Richard Morris Hunt [10] [11]
Rosecliff (1308020662).jpg
Rosecliff 1902French Baroque Revival McKim, Mead & White [12]

Former properties

ImageNameYear built
(*circa)
StyleArchitectNotes
Malbone Castle from the East.jpg
Malbone Castle 1849 (remodeled 1875) Gothic Revival Alexander Jackson Davis
Dudley Newton (renovations}
Bequeathed to the PSNC in 1978, later sold as a private residence; not open to the public [13] [14]
The White Horse Tavern Newport Rhode Island est. 1673.jpg
White Horse Tavern 1652–1673Francis Brinley, William MayesRestored by the PSNC in 1952, but now privately owned and operated as a working tavern

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.

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Block Island Southeast Light is a lighthouse located on Mohegan Bluffs at the southeastern corner of Block Island, Rhode Island. It was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1997 as one of the most architecturally sophisticated lighthouses built in the United States in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marble House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

Marble House, a Gilded Age mansion located at 596 Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, was built from 1888 to 1892 as a summer cottage for Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt and was designed by Richard Morris Hunt in the Beaux Arts style. It was unparalleled in opulence for an American house when it was completed in 1892. Its temple-front portico resembles that of the White House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chateau-sur-Mer</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

Chateau-sur-Mer is one of the first grand Bellevue Avenue mansions of the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. Located at 474 Bellevue Avenue, it is now owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County and is open to the public as a museum. Chateau-sur-Mer's grand scale and lavish parties ushered in the Gilded Age of Newport, as it was the most palatial residence in Newport until the Vanderbilt houses in the 1890s. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter House (Newport, Rhode Island)</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingscote (mansion)</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

Kingscote is a Gothic Revival mansion and house museum at Bowery Street and Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, designed by Richard Upjohn and built in 1839. As one of the first summer "cottages" constructed in Newport, it is now a National Historic Landmark. It was remodeled and extended by George Champlin Mason and later by Stanford White. It was owned by the King family from 1864 until 1972, when it was given to the Preservation Society of Newport County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward King House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The Edward King House, is a monumentally scaled residence at 35 King street in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designed for Edward King in the "Italian Villa" style by Richard Upjohn and was built between 1845 and 1847, making it one of the earliest representations of the style. It was the largest and grandest house in Newport when it was built. Edward King was the largest landowner in town by 1860, having made his fortune through the China Trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellevue Avenue Historic District</span> United States historic place in Newport, Rhode Island

The Bellevue Avenue Historic District is located along and around Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the Gilded Age mansions built as summer retreats around the turn of the 20th century by the extremely wealthy, including the Vanderbilt and Astor families. Many of the homes represent pioneering work in the architectural styles of the time by major American architects.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochre Point–Cliffs Historic District</span> Historic district in Rhode Island, United States

The Ochre Point–Cliffs Historic District is a historic district in Newport, Rhode Island. The district includes a significant subset of the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District, including all of the major Gilded Age mansions on the waterfront facing Easton Bay between Memorial Boulevard and Marine Avenue. The district is home to famous mansions such as the William Watts Sherman House and The Breakers, one of the largest houses in the area built by the Vanderbilt Family. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Gertrude M. "Trudy" Coxe is an American environmental activist and historic preservationist who is the current CEO of the Preservation Society of Newport County and the former Secretary of Environmental Affairs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She has advocated against the construction of offshore wind farms in Rhode Island, arguing that they cause "unnecessary loss to our community’s irreplaceable character and sense of place."

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Jamestown, Rhode Island, which has been transferred from and is an integral part of National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Little Compton, Rhode Island, which has been transferred from and is an integral part of National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Middletown, Rhode Island, which has been transferred from and is an integral part of National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, which has been transferred from and is an integral part of National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

This is a list of Registered Historic Places in Tiverton, Rhode Island, which has been transferred from and is an integral part of National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island.

References

  1. RINewsToday (2023-11-23). "Block Island and Newport preservationists fight to protect Rhode Island from massive wind farms". RINewsToday.com.
  2. Belmore, Ryan (2023-11-22). "Preservation Society of Newport County files federal appeals to highlight legal errors in permitting review of offshore wind farms". What's Up Newp.
  3. "Vanderbilt will" . Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. August 19, 1978. p. 13. Retrieved June 15, 2018 via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Breakers, The". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  5. "Chateau-sur-Mer". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  6. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  7. "Elms, The". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  8. "Green Animals Topiary Garden". www.newportmansions.org. Newport Mansions . Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  9. "Kingscote". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  10. "Marble House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on August 12, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  11. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  12. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  13. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  14. ""Malbone" (J. Prescott Hall-Henry Bedlow House)" (PDF). loc.gov. Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service Department of the Interior . Retrieved 20 November 2019.