The Bellevue Avenue Historic District is located along and around Bellevue Avenue in Newport,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Its property is almost exclusively residential, including many of the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

mansions built by affluent summer vacationers in the city around the turn of the 20th century, including the

Vanderbilt family The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...

and

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

. Many of the homes represent pioneering work in the

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

s of the time by major American architects. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

(NHL) in 1976. Several of the mansions within the district are also individually National Historic Landmarks, and a number of them are open to the public as museums. The district has become one of Newport's major tourist attractions.

Geography

The district encompasses an area of bounded by

Block Island Sound Block Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic Ocean, approximately wide, separating Block Island from the coast of mainland Rhode Island. On the west, it extends to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, as well as Plum Is ...

and

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sm ...

to the south and east, respectively, 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 through the middle of the district.

Land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

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 museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

s. One, Vernon Court, is home of the

National Museum of American Illustration The National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI), founded in 1998, is the first national museum to be devoted exclusively to American illustration artwork. The NMAI is located on Newport, Rhode Island's historic Bellevue Avenue in the mansion V ...

. Another,

Belcourt Castle Belcourt is a former summer cottage designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Construction was begun in 1891 and completed in 1894, and it was intended to b ...

, is a privately owned house museum. Many others are owned by the

Preservation Society of Newport County 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 Newpor ...

Salve Regina University Salve Regina University is a private Roman Catholic university in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was founded in 1934 by the Sisters of Mercy and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. The university enrolls m ...

, home to some more historic buildings, including the

William Watts Sherman House The William Watts Sherman House is a notable house designed by American architect H. H. Richardson, with later interiors by Stanford White. It is a National Historic Landmark, generally acknowledged as one of Richardson's masterpieces and the p ...

, 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 The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 180-200 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island in the Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District. Built in 1879–1881 by '' New York Herald'' publisher James Gordo ...

at the north end of the district, such as two contemporary

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

s opposite and to the right (respectively) of the casino itself. There are some small parks within the district, the block just south of Vernon Court on the east side of Bellevue is the location of the Frederick Law Olmsted Arboretum, located on the site of Stoneacre, no longer extant. The grounds of Stoneacre were designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...

Rovensky Park Rovensky Park is a historic park at the corner of Bellevue Avenue and Rovensky Avenue (previously Wheaton Street) in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The park grounds were created in 1852, and the park was purchased by the Preservation Society of New ...

is further down Bellevue Avenue and is maintained by the Preservation Society of Newport County. Many of the larger mansions sit on large lots, leaving plenty of open space within the district.

History

During the colonial era and the decades after

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, 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 breeze A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any wind that blows from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass; it develops due to differences in air pressure created by the differing heat capacities of water and dry land. As such, sea breezes ar ...

s and the panoramic ocean views. They began building cottages along the higher ground where Bellevue Avenue, then a lightly traveled farm path, now runs. Kingscote_02

In 1839, George Noble Jones, a Southern

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

owner, built Kingscote, a

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures ...

building considered the first of the city's mansions. The

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

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

in the later decades of the 19th century. Houses became slightly larger than the original cottages, and experimented with new

Chateau-sur-Mer 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. ...

was one of the few built as a year-round residence in 1851, it was later expanded in the 1880s using the

Second Empire architecture Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

from France. The Casino and the

Isaac Bell House The Isaac Bell House is a historic house and National Historic Landmark at 70 Perry Street (at the corner with Bellevue Avenue) in Newport, Rhode Island. Also known as Edna Villa, it is one of the outstanding examples of Shingle Style architect ...

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.

William Kissam Vanderbilt William Kissam "Willie" Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and horsebreeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments. Early life William Kiss ...

Marble House 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 ...

in 1888 helped spark the transformation of Newport with stone as a building material, Beaux Arts as a style, and set a new standard for size. A few years later, his brother Cornelius spent a record $7 million (equivalent to $ million in ) on

The Breakers 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. The 70-room man ...

, sitting above the cliffs at Ochre Point on the eastern shore. 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 Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

would become associated with the city and the district through the

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s 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

. This trend toward tourism continued in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...

opened in the Casino in 1955. The 1962 sale of The Elms, the last of the mansions 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 National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

: 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 The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

to combine all three and expand them into the current Bellevue Avenue district. Four years later the new district was recognized as a National Historic Landmark District, the second of three in the city. The mansions and museums continue to be a draw for visitors to the city today.

Significant contributing properties

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 NPS historian 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 Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...

, Richard Morris Hunt and

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...

over their professional careers." Eight of the district's buildings have been designated as

s in their own right. Several others are listed on the

. Many are open to the public for guided tours.

National Historic Landmarks

: First Shingle Style house. *

: Costly

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

-style Vanderbilt home is Newport's signature mansion and a symbol of the

. *

: Originally built in 1851, later extensively remodeled in

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

and other late 19th century styles by Richard Morris Hunt. Considered the first of the great Newport mansions. * The Elms:

Horace Trumbauer Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of ...

mansion for coal magnate Edward Julius Berwind was one of the first houses wired for electricity.

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style imitates Château d'Asnières in France. * Kingscote: Gothic Revival 1839 cottage by

is the first large house in the city built for a summer resident. *

: Hunt's Beaux Arts design for

was one of the first stone mansions, and started a trend toward very large homes in Newport. *

: 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. *

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

house, with interiors by

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

, considered one of his best works. Prototype for the Shingle Style. File:Isaac Bell House 2018-06-13.jpg,

File:The Breakers, exterior.jpg,

File:Chateau-sur-Mer.jpg,

File:The Elms - Rhode Island.jpg, The Elms File:Kingscote 2018-06-14.jpg, Kingscote File:William Watts Sherman House 2018.jpg, The

File:Marble House, Newport.jpg,

File:International Tennis Hall of Fame.jpg,

Other major properties

* Beechwood: The Astors' Newport home, remodeled from an older one. Formerly

living museum A living museum, also known as a living history museum, is a type of museum which recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, providing visitors with an experiential interpretation of history. It is a type of museum that recrea ...

with actors playing the family, its guests and staff for visitors, now privately owned and closed to the public. *

Belcourt of Newport Belcourt is a former summer cottage designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt for Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Construction was begun in 1891 and completed in 1894, and it was intended to b ...

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

Rosecliff Rosecliff is a Gilded Age mansion of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a historic house museum. The house has also been known as the Hermann Oelrichs House or the J. Edgar Monroe House. It was built 1898–1902 by Theresa Fair ...

's imitation of

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his '' maîtresse- ...

, built for silver heiress

Theresa Fair Oelrichs Theresa Alice "Tessie" Fair (June 30, 1871 – November 22, 1926) was an American socialite. She went from being the daughter of a hard-scrabble California miner to become heiress to a fortune in Comstock Lode gold and silver, the wife of steamsh ...

. *

Ochre Court Ochre Court is a large châteauesque mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Commissioned by Ogden Goelet, it was built at a cost of $4.5 million in 1892. It is the second largest mansion in Newport after nearby The Breakers. These two ...

: Châteauesque mansion by Richard Morris Hunt. One of a number of properties also within the Ochre Point–Cliffs Historic District. * Vernon Court: Imitation of a

Germain Boffrand Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...

chateau. Today home to the

. File:Beechwood, Newport (cropped).jpg, Beechwood File:CBelcourt1895.jpg,

File:Rosecliff (1308020662).jpg,

File:Vernon Court Mansion, Newport, RI.jpg, Vernon Court File:Ochre Court, Newport.jpg,

Historic District Commission

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 nine citizens appointed to three-year terms by the City Council to oversee not just the downtown historic district but Newport's other historic districts, two of which ( downtown and Ocean Drive) are also recognized as National Historic Landmarks. The city considers them all one large district for its administrative purposes. 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.

References

External links

{{Commons category, 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
National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island Historic districts in Newport, Rhode Island Historic mansion districts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island