The Bellevue Avenue Historic District: Italianate Aspects

Luigi Speranza

The "Bellevue Avenue Historic District" is located along (and around) "Bellevue Avenue" in Newport.

Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the mansions built by affluent summer vacationers around the turn of the 20th century, including the Astor (since 1881) and Vanderbilt family.

Most of the summer 'cottages' represent pioneering work in the architectural styles of the time by major American architects, notably Hunt.

The Bellevue Avenue Historic District was declared a "National Historic Landmark" only in 1976. Better late than never.

Several of the summer "cottages"

*within the district*

had themselves attained National-Heritage-Landmark

status as well, or have done so since then.

It has become one of Newport's major attractions.

The district encompasses an area of 606 acres (242 ha) bounded by

Block Island Sound to the South

Narragansett Bay to the east.

Spring Street and Coggeshall Avenue to the west,

and Memorial Boulevard to the north.

This takes in the

southeastern quarter

of the developed portions of the city on the

southwestern neck of

Aquidneck Island.

Bellevue Avenue itself runs north-south for over two miles (3.2 km) through the middle of the district.

Land use within the district is overwhelmingly residential.

Most of its 63 buildings are dwellings either in use or originally built for that purpose.

*Institutional* use is the next most common, with many of the historic mansions now used as historic house museums.

One, Vernon Court, is home of

The National Museum of American Illustration.

Salve Regina University, home to some more historic buildings, including the William Watts Sherman House, is wholly within the district, and there is also a more modern senior citizens home built in the mid-20th century.

Commercial properties are clustered near

The Newport Casino

at the north end of the district,

such as a contemporary strip mall with supermarket and drugstore just opposite the casino itself.

There are some small parks within the district, and the blocks just south of Vernon House on the east side of Bellevue are given over to

Stoneacre Park,

a once-private park designed by F. L. Olmsted.

Rovensky Park is further down Bellevue Avenue and is maintained by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Many of the larger summer 'cottages' sit on large lots, leaving plenty of open space within the district.

During the colonial era and the decades after independence, most of Newport's development remained around its downtown area, where port facilities, the mainstay of the city's economy, were.

Early in the 19th century, visitors to the city in the summer months came to appreciate the moderating effects of the sea breezes and the panoramic ocean views.

They began building cottages along the

higher ground

where

Bellevue Avenue, then a lightly traveled

farm path, now runs.

In

*1839*,

G. N. Jones, a Southern plantation owner, built

"Kingscote",

a Carpenter Gothic building considered the first of the city's 'cottages'.

The Civil War and the years leading up to it slowed further development in the area, but then it picked up again during the economic prosperity of the Gilded Age in the later decades of the 19th century.

Houses became slightly larger than the original cottages, and experimented with new architectural styles.

The Casino and the Isaac Bell House inaugurated the Shingle style, where that material was used as siding instead of clapboard.

More and more wealthy families were drawn to Newport in the summers, transforming the architecture again.

The pioneer here must be THE Missus Astor, when she asked Hunt to restore Beechwood.

W. K. Vanderbilt's cottage (1888), next to the Astor cottage, introduced stone (marble) as a building material, Beaux Arts as a style, and set a new standard for size.

A few years later, W. K. Vanderbilt's brother, Cornelius Venderbilt II, spent a record $7 million ($150 million in 2008 dollars) on restoring an old wooden construction called "The Breakers".

The Breakers, by Hunt, sits above the cliff at Ochre Point on the eastern shore.

Earlier, as was mentioned, the Astors expanded the 1851 Beechwood to suit their needs.

These houses and their occupants made Newport synonymous with wealth and leisure in the early 20th century.

Tennis and sailing would become associated with the city and the district through the tennis courts in the Casino, which hosted the early tournaments that became

The US Open,

and the America's Cup races which began being held in the nearby waters every three years.

**************

The onset of the Depression began to change this, as some families, faced with dwindling fortunes, turned their houses over to the public or private nonprofits such as the Preservation Society of Newport County.

This trend toward tourism continued in the years after World War II.

The mansions began being converted into museums and opened for tours.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame opened in the Casino in 1955.

The 1962 sale of "The Elms", the *last* of the cottages to be owned and operated by the original family, marked the end of the resort era.

Preservation efforts had been going on in the downtown historic district for years, and the city had begun to appreciate their value as tourist attractions.

In 1965, it recognized as part of its original local historic district three smaller areas in the Bellevue area, later added to the National Register of Historic Places:

* the original Bellevue Avenue district along the residential portions of the street itself

* the Ochre Point/Cliffs district around The Breakers and

* the Bellevue Avenue/Casino District in that area.

In 1972 it applied to the National Park Service to

combine all three

and expand them into the current Bellevue Avenue district.

Four years later, in 1976, the district was recognized as a National Historic Landmark District, the second of three in the city.

----


The cottages continue to be a draw for visitors to the city today.

The builders of the mansions had the means to employ the best architectural talent available to them at the highest level of creativity.

"The list of architects", says Carolyn Pitts, "embraces almost every major designer of that time and what emerges at Newport is also a study of the development of the taste and skill of men like

Richard Upjohn,

Richard Morris Hunt and

McKim, Mead and White

over their professional careers."

*8*

of the district's buildings have been designated as National Historic Landmarks in their own right.

Several others are

_listed_ on

The National Register of Historic Places.

Many are open to the public for guided tours.

National Historic Landmarks
The Breakers
Newport Casino
Isaac Bell House: First Shingle Style house.

The Breakers:

Italian Renaissance-style home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II is Newport's signature mansion and a symbol of the Gilded Age.

Chateau-sur-Mer: Originally built in 1851, later extensively remodeled in Second Empire and other late 19th century styles by R. M. Hunt. Considered the first of the big Newport cottages.

The Elms, by H. Trumbauer.

Home of E. J. Berwind

Oe of the first houses wired for electricity. Classical Revival style imitates Chateau D'Asniére in France.

Kingscote: Gothic Revival 1839 cottage by Richard Upjohn is the first large house in the city built for a summer resident.

W. K. Vanderbilt's "marble" cottage:

Hunt's Beaux Arts design for William Kissam Vanderbilt was one of the first stone mansions, and started a trend toward very large homes in Newport.

Newport Casino: The only non-residential NHL within the district, it was its first Shingle Style building and one of the first American social clubs to include recreational facilities.

William Watts Sherman House:

Henry Hobson Richardson house, with interiors by Stanford White, considered one of his best works.

Prototype for the Shingle Style.[11]

[edit] Other major properties

Rosecliff

Beechwood: The Astors' Newport home, remodeled from an older one. Today a living museum with actors playing the family, its guests and staff for visitors.

Belcourt Castle: Summer home of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, built by Hunt in a variety of different styles of the time.

Rosecliff: Stanford White imitation of Versailles' Grand Trianon, built for Mr. Oelrich.

Vernon Court Imitation of a Germain Boffrand chateau. Today home to the National Museum of American Illustration.

To maintain the district's historic character, the city created its Historic District Commission (HDC) at the same time as the district itself.

It consists of

9

citizens appointed to 3-year terms by the City Council to oversee not just the downtown historic district but Newport's other historic districts, two of which

-- downtown district and Ocean Drive district -- are also recognized as National Historic Landmarks.

Newport considers them all one large district for its administrative purposes.[12]

The HDC must review any exterior alterations to a building in the district beyond ordinary maintenance and repair, and issue a Certificate of Appropriateness.

It cannot order any changes made to a property.

[edit] References Rhode Island portal

"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.

"Bellevue Avenue Historic District". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1192&ResourceType=District. Retrieved 2008-02-21.

Carolyn Pitts (February 5, 1976). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Bellevue Avenue Historic DistrictPDF (32 KB). National Park Service.

4.^ "Bell, Isaac, Jr., House". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-682686236&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
5.^ "Breakers, The". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1058&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
6.^ "Chateau-sur-Mer". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-1108232683&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
7.^ "Elms, The". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1059&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
8.^ "Kingscote". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1307&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
9.^ "Marble House". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1143737094&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
10.^ "Newport Casino NHL". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=893&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
11.^ "Sherman, William, Watts House". National Park Service. http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=881&ResourceType=Building. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
12.^ a b "City of Newport – Department of Planning, Zoning and Inspection – Historic District Commission". http://www.cityofnewport.com/departments/planning-zoning/hdc/home.cfm. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
[edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bellevue Avenue Historic District

Beechwood. Official website
Belcourt Castle. Official website
Preservation Society of Newport County. Visitor information for many properties in district
National Museum of American Illustration.
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Coordinates: 41°28′13″N 71°18′26″W / 41.47028°N 71.30722°W / 41.47028; -71.30722
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