The Rebirth of a Great Old Lady

In case you have not driven through Narragansett Pier recently, there has been a MAJOR change in the landscape. At 41 Ocean Road stands a glorious period restoration of the Lila Delman Real Estate building, circa 1875. Once known as Sea Lawn, the building was also known as the Reading Room, the Wave Crest Inn and the Tea Room. It was moved in 1899 from Mathewson Street to where it still resides today on a large lot just south of The Towers. The lot was once the grass tennis courts to the Narragansett Casino.

Over the years, the old gal had under gone some changes that were less than ascetically pleasing, however, the aims were probably practical and utilitarian at the time. The old porch had been closed in and that is where, for many years, the real estate office was located. You entered through the double glass doors, which were salvaged by Lila, from a local demolition project. When it rained, the buckets were brought out and certain desks were covered for protection. It was like working in the old curiosity shop, but it was fun. Upon entering, people would come in and take everything into account including the eclectic collection of antiques and other memorabilia.

This great old survivor withstood the catastrophic fire of 1900 which consumed the Towers, the flames licking within steps of the front door, and the great hurricane of 1938 with angry seas which swirled and surged around it.

Flash forward to December 2009! After almost one year of meticulous renovation, under the scrutiny of a gifted architect and a team of very competent craftsmen, it is a masterfully restored Victorian building located in one of the most beautiful settings in the area. People walk by and their mouths drop open as they stop and just ogle the “Great Old Lady”.

The restoration, of this wonderful old structure to its original grandeur, makes it a striking new landmark for the town of Narragansett. It only gets better when you enter the building, you feel so comfortable with all the beautiful old antiques collected over the years by Lila and the newly expanded space. It is further enhanced by the happy group of people who work in this wonderful environment.

We are so proud of our office and are so excited to be a part of this wondrous Renaissance!

Six degrees of separation

By now most of us are familiar with the “six degrees of separation” concept, the notion that everyone on the planet is pretty much related somehow. You know…Barrack Obama turns out to be related to Thomas Jefferson, George Bush and Vladamir Putin are actually distant cousins, the person sitting at the next desk is descended from the Romonovs, etc. Well something kind of strange happened recently – call it an amazing coincidence of sorts – that started me thinking. What about the six degrees of separation between buildings?

This is what happened. I had a client who was purchasing a house at 28 Channing Street. Right about the same time I got a new listing for a house at 18 Congdon Ave. The two houses are in the same neighborhood, two or three blocks apart, and my buyer actually looked at both houses. So far so good. He put in an offer on the Channing St house, and to his delight, it was accepted. Meanwhile, to my delight, my listing at 18 Congdon was also put under contract. Even better. But this is where it starts to get spooky. My buyer, in his excitement about buying the house on Channing, went over to City Hall and did some research on the property, going all the way back to the moment it was built. And what he found was this: that the person who had built 28 Channing had done so while living at 18 Congdon. The two houses had a six degrees of separation type link and we – my buyer, my seller, and me - were the connective tissue.

Fast forward to later the same week. I was trying to find some background info on Moorland Lodge and kept running into a blank wall. Then I came across an entry for it on the National Register District website, claiming that it had been built by Vera Scott Cushman, heiress to the Chicago department store fortune of Carson Pirie Scott. Now the Carson Pirie Scott building in Chicago is one of THE most famous buildings in the history of American architecture, designed by Louis Sullivan, one of the very first skyscrapers, one of the very first buildings to ever employ a curtain wall, etc. It’s totally landmark, ultra famous with the scholarly set. And then it occurred to me – there was a six degrees of separation thing between the CPS building and Moorland Lodge! They’re relatives – once via Vera Cushman, and once again via me noticing the link. It was incredible. Believing I’d possibly stumbled upon one of the greatest secrets of life ever, I became more and more convinced that there might be an invisible network of relationships connecting seemingly disparate buildings. Could it actually be that a system of secret architectural energetics mysteriously underlay the everyday visible world? If true, I was so THERE…

So I started looking for these connections everywhere. And finding them. I didn’t even have to leave Vera Scott Cushman and Moorland Lodge far behind; it turns out that Cushman went on to live at Avalon out on the Drive, which in turn became the Van Alen estate, which in turn is what swallowed up Wrentham House and put it under a spell for decades…which means that Moorland Lodge & Wrentham House are sort of like distant long-lost cousins, reunited by their present day Lila Delman-client status. Or how about Berry Hill, next door to Moorland Lodge? Prior to being Moorland Lodge, a structure belonging to the Berry Hill estate stood in that location, although whether the earlier building was demolished to make way for Moorland Lodge, or was just radically rebuilt & enlarged is an open question. But either way, it would seem there’s a family connection of sorts.

Postscript. I’d finished writing this blog, but hadn’t yet pulled the photos so I could publish it, when I came across an old 2007 issue of Food & Wine magazine a few weeks ago. It had been floating around the back of my car ever since, and the other evening I finally got around to bringing it inside. I set it down on my kitchen table and casually glanced down at the label on the cover, and what I saw froze my blood. It was addressed to an occupant at 17 Chestnut Street, a house I had just listed two days before.

I rest my case.

City Girl Moves To The Coast

As a child I often thought how great it would be to grow up near the beach. Instead I spent my childhood in the country or the city. When I married, my husband and I decided to move to a home he had been using as a rental in South Kingstown. My first visit there brought mixed emotions. Yes, the beaches were beautiful. It was clean, peaceful, and you could actually SEE the stars at night! The other things I noticed were, where would I shop? Is there a Starbucks? What in the world do you do all winter long? Well I said "let's try it". Seven years later I have fallen in love with life here. Many people say it is God's country. It is so nice to walk into a store, coffee shop or market and people actually know who you are and seem glad to see you.

Morning commutes are made up of waterviews, trees and no traffic. Sometimes I like to listen to the traffic reports of jams on the Washington bridge in Providence. I used to be stuck in that mess day after day. South County has so much to offer. Since moving I had a son Brady. He is 2 1/2 and loves his home. Now he will grow up near the beach, enjoy all the beautiful parks and the wonderful people. Living here is truly like being on vacation all year. We don't miss the rushed life of living in the city and of course I have found some great shopping.

Flower Envy

How would you know that the grass is greener if you can’t see over the fence?

One of the nicest, not-to-be-missed events in Newport in the spring/summer is the Secret Garden Tour. This June 20-22, the tour is in The Point section, one of our most beautifully preserved historic neighborhoods. Even if you live here and pass through The Point regularly, you’ll be surprised at what you see. Not only are the gardens delightful, but very varied and surprisingly large. You’ll see larger gardens than you ever thought would fit in such a dense neighborhood and you’ll see petite gardens that make the most of a tiny courtyard.

What a treat to be invited in to smell the roses, wander the paths and, of course, take home new ideas and a list to bring to the nursery!

This spring I’m a guest in a house on the Historic Hill and am enjoying my host’s garden as it springs to life. My question is…why have I never planted poppies? Even the buds are wondrous works of art.

Have you fallen in love with The Point? While you're there take a look at some homes that could be yours: waterfront with a dock at 100 Washington Street, a gracious Victorian B&B at 49 Washington Street, or a stylish contemporary loft condo in a converted schoolhouse at 11 Willow Street.

The Glamorous Life

It always makes me laugh when people say being a Realtor is easy, it is a glamorous job, or that we are paid too much for what we do. I say come and sit in our office for a few days. See all the happenings that go on behind the scenes. See if you think it is easy work. In the six years I have been selling real estate, I have had some moments that have truly been wonderful and some that have been a bit trying.

Let me give you a few examples. How about calls late at night (10pm or later) that are not even close to being an emergency, calls that wake a baby you have been trying to get to sleep for two hours. Or the BRISK walks on the beach in the middle of January in snow up to your knees with out of state clients. The homeowners you have to tell the many problems with their property that they just don't see. How about the many walks through vacant land? I seem to have a gift for rain, mud and briers. One time I almost had to be cut out of brush and briers that had wrapped themselves around me. My favorite story is just hours after giving birth to my son by c-section, I was trying to reach for my cell phone from the hospital bed to calm down angry sellers and buyers that were threatening to walk away from the closing on the property in just a few days. They did ask how I was feeling and if I had a girl or a boy!!

Anyway, my Dad always taught me to "see what is good, not what is bad" He was a wonderful man and always had a smile, kiss, song or joke to brighten my day. When things go wrong or I have a tough day, I think of what he was saying. I do love being a Realtor. And I love helping clients find their dream home or to help someone turn a page and sell their home. Take a look at our website for some truly wonderful homes, or call me if you are thinking of selling.

My motto as a Realtor has been professional, personalized service with a positive attitude.

Got lunch?

Ever wonder where to go to lunch when you're in Newport? Look no further than Pasta Beach, right next door to the Lila Delman office on Memorial Blvd. They have the best pizza this side of Rome - in fact, it might even be better!

When I went to Rome two years ago, I stayed in the "Centro Storico"(literally means the historic center), just two doors away from Bafetto's, arguably the most celebrated pizzeria in the city. Since my companion and I had a thirteen-year old in tow, we ate there virtually every night.


What makes for great Roman pizza? A super hot grill, a super thin crust and of course, the freshest of ultra-fresh ingredients. Last week I tried Pasta Beach's proscuitto and arugula pizza, and it actually surpassed anything I can remember tasting across the Atlantic. It was so thin I could practically see through it, and the chef had lightly drizzled it with just a little tomato sauce, some fresh mozzarella, a couple of handfuls of arugula tossed with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar, and then he'd layered every inch of the thing with the thinnest slices of proscuitto di parma imaginable...YUM!!!









So next time you find yourself at the Newport Lila Delman's, shopping for the house of your dreams, be sure to stop in at Pasta Beach. You won't be disappointed!