Architectural History of Newport: From Postmedieval to Postmodern Styles

A remarkable coincidence of unplanned historical events has preserved the architectural heritage of Newport, Rhode Island, in a way that is rare among American cities. With some 800 pre-Revolutionary War buildings in its old historic districts, Newport boasts the largest number of such structures in North America. In the nineteenth century, Newport served as the summer home to America's most prominent families, who were patrons of outstanding architecture. Exemplifying the greatness of mid-nineteenth-century American architecture, Newport displayed a diverse range of architectural styles.

As Newport gained social importance in the 1880s, the Bellevue Avenue and Ochre Point neighborhoods became the sites of lavish Beaux-Arts palatial residences. Twentieth-century architecture in Newport explored all modern currents, ranging from progressive Bauhaus functionalism as it evolved into the International Style of the 1950s to more conservative Art Deco and Scandinavian Modernism.

After 1975, the postmodern era gave rise to a spirit of preservation and adaptive reuse, inspiring the Modern Traditionalism of architects such as Robert A. M. Stern. In a more vernacular vein, postmodern shopping centers, restaurants, and commercial establishments provided fertile ground for an especially well-informed postmodern kitsch.

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