The Draw of Newport

Working with buyers, not only from Newport, but from throughout the world is the most rewarding aspect of being a realtor. I am fortunate to work with a company that lists a wide variety of properties in a city that promotes art, history, sailing, and culture. From the spectrum of large estates such as my listing of Berry Hill, where one family has held the property as stewards since the day it was completed in 1887 to the smaller cottages near the waterfront and scattered throughout the city from the Broadway area to the Fifth Ward, there are Victorian and Colonial homes, condominiums and contemporary homes along the Ocean Drive.

The architecture varies. The areas do also. We have “The Point” where one sees old sea captains’ homes. We have “Historic Hill” encompassing large federal colonials, gambrel colonials, Victorian homes, Trinity Church where one can do the Historic Walking Tour proceeding from stanchion to stanchion reading and exploring the history of Newport. We have The Fifth Ward where homes vary in architecture and sit on neighborhood-friendly streets within walking distance to town and the waterfront. We have Bellevue Avenue with its Gilded Age grand homes, beautiful gardens, and Newport Mansions preserved by The Preservation Society, Newport Restoration Foundation, and private owners.

The buyers vary also. Newport draws the artists and artisans with its galleries and Newport Art Museum. It draws those interested in history and literature with the Redwood Library, The Historical Society and others. It particularly draws in the sailors who participate in racing and regattas with The New York Yacht Club, Ida Lewis Yacht Club, and Newport Yacht Club.

As a member of the Newport City Council I have traveled to visit our sister cities in Kinsale, Ireland; Shimoda, Japan; Imperia, Italy; and Skiathos, Greece. I go to promote my city. I have worked to sponsor programs to allow students to participate in a student exchange program to learn of other cultures and peoples in other areas of the world, many who will visit Newport in years to come.

There is satisfaction in knowing that the clients who buy here have chosen to come here, as I did. They will become part of what makes Newport special. In some ways it is a village where neighbor recognizes neighbor. In other ways it is an exciting sailing community recognized throughout the world as “the sailing capital.” The people are as diversified as the properties. It is joyous. It is never boring.

Jazz on a Summer's Day

A familiar past.

Just as the sounds you hear are the familiar sounds of jazz at its most classic (that are in no way outdated), so too are the familiar images of Newport at its most classic: the waterfront skyline, with its steeples and colonial houses, vintage vehicles on parade, and seagoing yachts racing on sunlit waters.

Some things have changed, we no longer get here by ferry, and we no longer dress for a jazz festival as if attending Ascot---but the spirit has remained remakably intact.

Revisit the early days of the Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz On A Summer's Day.

Sit back, marinate some ice cubes and let Louis Armstrong surround you with Up The Lazy River or take Tea for Two with Anita O'Day and enjoy the day.

Sensational America's Cup sailing footage accompanied by Thelonius Monk.

Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960) is a remarkable documentary set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, and filmed and directed by noted commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern.

It's so relaxing, so cool, so Newport.