The Isaac Bell House is a historic house and

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 ...

at 70 Perry Street (at the corner with

Bellevue Avenue 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 by affluent summer vaca ...

) in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

. Also known as Edna Villa, it is one of the outstanding examples of Shingle Style architecture in the United States. It was designed by

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), Wil ...

, and built during 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 Weste ...

, when Newport was the summer resort of choice for some of America's wealthiest families.

History

Isaac Bell Jr. was a successful cotton broker and investor, and the brother-in-law of

James Gordon Bennett Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him ...

, publisher of the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

''. Bell hired the New York architectural firm of

(

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partn ...

, William R. Mead, and

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 additio ...

) to design his summer cottage. Known in Newport for designing

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 ...

, and later in Boston for designing

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

, they also designed

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

in New York City. Construction took place between 1881 and 1883. Shingle Style was pioneered by

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 ...

in his design for 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 ...

, also in Newport. This style of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

, featuring the extensive use of wooden shingles on the exterior, acquired some popularity in the late nineteenth century. The Isaac Bell House exemplifies this through its unpainted wood shingles, simple window and trim detail, and multiple porches. It combines elements of the English Arts and Crafts movement philosophy, colonial American detailing, and features a Japanese-inspired open floor plan and bamboo-style porch columns. Interior features include inglenook fireplaces, natural rattan wall coverings, wall paneling and narrow-band wooden floors. During its life, the house has variously been divided into apartments and served as a nursing home. With the help of Carol Chiles Ballard, the house was bought in 1994 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 ...

, which won awards for its restoration, and now operates it as a museum. The Isaac Bell House was declared a

in 1997. and

References

External links

Isaac Bell House
*

Images

File:Isaac Bell House (3678099261).jpg, Isaac Bell House ca. 1890 File:Isaac Bell House, 70 Perry Street, Newport, Newport County, RI HABS RI,3-NEWP,44- (sheet 4 of 8).tif, Front East elevation of the house File:Isaac Bell House, 70 Perry Street, Newport, Newport County, RI HABS RI,3-NEWP,44- (sheet 2 of 8).png, First Floor plan File:Isaac Bell House, 70 Perry Street, Newport, Newport County, RI HABS RI,3-NEWP,44- (sheet 3 of 8).png, Second Floor plan File:Isaac Bell House, Newport, RI.jpg, Isaac Bell House in 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Isaac, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Historic house museums in Rhode Island Houses completed in 1883 Houses in Newport County, Rhode Island McKim, Mead & White buildings Museums in Newport, Rhode Island National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island Shingle Style houses Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Rhode Island Shingle Style architecture in Rhode Island

History

See also

References

External links

Images