class war at 40 Broadway

Last week a preservationist friend gave me a big blue button that says “Newport Needs Its Past”. Evidently someone was giving them out at a recent city council hearing on whether or not Newport should hire a new historic preservation officer to replace the one who vacated the post last fall. You’d think that filling the post ASAP would be pretty much of a no-brainer for a town whose economic lifeblood is historic tourism & whose future fortunes are almost entirely dependant on the success of that industry, but alas the world is not always a rational place, and numerous and vocal are the objectors to this plan. Their arguments run along the usual predictable lines. Can’t afford it. Don’t need it. Too much government interference in private life. No one’s going to tell ME whether I can replace a window, etc. Like so much else in life, increasingly (to me at least) these arguments seem to be less about the ostensible subject under discussion – i.e. the filling of the vacant position – than a thinly disguised battle over other issues, in this case between the economic interests of blue vs white collar Newport, the people with the chain link fences pitted against the people with the wrought iron fences. Both sides believe that they should get the final say on how things look around here. And it strikes me – committed preservationist that I am – that the opposing side does indeed inadvertently raise some very uncomfortable theoretical questions for us vis-à-vis our “Newport Needs Its Past” campaign: Who’s past are we preserving? And whose past are we erasing in the interests of saving whatever it is we deem worth saving?

I think you could make the argument that Newport is as architecturally rich as it is precisely because every period was allowed to express itself, because new things were built on top of old things, existing buildings were repurposed, utilitarian and cosmetic fixes were patched in willy-nilly with little regard for aesthetics and controls…which of course resulted in exactly the kind of organic aesthetic that the Wrought Iron Fence People now want to protect. But ironically, it was precisely the Chain Link Fence Person mentality that brought this aesthetic into being – the patch it up, make it do, make it work, piece it together approach favored everywhere by the working poor, for the simple reason that they can’t afford to adopt any other. For every William Vanderbilt that summered in Newport, there were fifty Irish maids who made his life possible. For every John LaFarge or William James who lived and worked here there were a hundred illiterate fishermen who’d never heard of them. From 1639 on, every cultured illustrious Newport inhabitant has been shadowed by a crowd of thousands of working class nobodies. Slaves. Servants. Fishermen. Seamstresses. Grocers. Carters. People who lived in small cheap houses in poor neighborhoods and saved pieces of string & old newspapers and never gave a thought to the aesthetics of architecture or the picturesque, because they would have been luxuries so out of reach & impractical that they weren’t even understood to be options. Chain Link Fence People everywhere, of every era, usually find survival more to their taste than aesthetics.

All of which brings me back to paradox of the button again. Yes, Virginia, Newport Needs Its Past. Newport needs preservation. But let’s not be stupid or naïvely idealistic about it. Let’s not pretend our commitment to preservation isn’t preventing other social truths from being expressed. Let’s not pretend that a lot of class conflicts don’t lie at the heart of this debate. And let’s not stop asking ourselves how true to reality – to any reality, of any period – is a preserved Newport, and if a preserved Newport is even an authentic one?

The Kindness of Strangers

Where I live there are two beaches. One is accessed through two little footpaths and the other has a small, gravel resident parking lot and boat launch.


The area is filled with wild sweet peas and beach roses. The neighbors have set out big pots along the lot edge and planted geraniums, too.



Some people who know the area like to take a detour off Scenic 1-A and drive along Seaview Avenue to take in the view. It is a slightly sloping hill right down to the sea. If you love the bay, it is pretty impressive – you can see from Portsmouth to Jamestown. We also get birders who sit by the roadside with binoculars to watch the herons and egrets.


Recently, my neighbor was plating geraniums in the lot and a woman drove by for a look at the bay. She made a comment about the flowers and my neighbor said that she wished she had more because the few she had did not deter boaters from dropping trash into the flower pots. (I know, hard to believe, but some people are really thoughtless – even boaters) That was it and the woman drove off.


A little while later, the woman returned with a couple of dozen geranium plants! They were donated by Wickford Flowers. It turned out she works there. We don’t know her name but we thank her and Wickford Flowers very much. What a nice thing to do!

Lila's Movies - Daybreak

Beautiful waterfront property in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

Coastal Living Newport Regatta

Lila Delman Real Estate is proud to be an official partner of the 2009 Coastal Living Newport Regatta, July 11-12.
For more information and to purchase tickets to the weekend of events, please visit www.coastalliving.com/regatta

A Wonderful Place In A Calming Location

A real center of the community in Wickford is the library.



The statistics say it is one of the busiest in the state and from what I can see, that is very true.


I’m there at least 2 or 3 times a week and the place is always a beehive of activity. Patrons range from toddlers to seniors and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

Not only do they have any book, movie or music CD you could desire but they have so many wonderful programs and activities for all ages. Art exhibits, French practice, music performances, guest speakers, knitting for kids, walking tours through Wickford by local historian Tim Cranston, poetry reading and discussion and book discussion groups. There is also internet access and a quiet study room.




The setting is wonderful, relaxing and contemplative. Waterfront on Academy Cove, you can sit in the meditation garden or walk down to the footbridge to see what the ducks are up to. I’m sure your local library is just as wonderful (I also LOVE Narragansett Library) but if you would like to explore a bit, try Wickford. Then you can go into town and have a sandwich and do some shopping.