Renovating the HDC from the inside out

For many years now, the City of Newport's Historic District Commission has been the bane of the existence of those who own property in the neighborhoods within the Commission's jurisdiction. The absence of any real qualifying professional standards for Commission members, the utter lack of clear guidelines, an arbitrary, capricious, and nepotistic approach to enforcement, application & fee structures without rhyme or reason, and of course, the hell of having to sit through interminable Commission meetings, waiting for your name to be called in order that you might present your "case" for replacing that old window in your garage or rebuild your front steps - these are to name just a few of the procedural inequities that have turned this initially laudable effort at architectural preservation into a mind-blowingly hateful experience that smacks of Big Brother. Untold hundreds of Newport property owners have suffered untold annoyances at the hands of these fools. The received wisdom around town was that if your interior decorator or your contractor or your next door neighbor didn't sit on the HDC, you were pretty much out of luck.

But hopefully, all that is about to change. Late last spring the City Council empaneled a task force whose purpose is to review and REVISE the historic district ordinance. This task force - which has been meeting regularly several times a month - is comprised of a group of selected residents with professional backgrounds in the fields of architecture, building, history, preservation, and law. That group subsequently split into several sub-committees, which have been meeting once a week. All of the meetings are posted and open to the public. Save for the committee members themselves, the meetings are invariably poorly attended. Come on, folks! For all of you who've been complaining about the workings of the HDC - or have ever complained in the past - this is your big chance to help these hard-working volunteers set things right, finally and once and for all.

Homage to Hearth through selected poems of Emily Dickinson

The baronial hearth in the great room at Wrentham House was glowing over the weekend, after 40 years unlit!

Wrentham House was built in 1891 by Richard Morris Hunt (1827- 1895), a contemporary of Emily Dickinson (1830-1886).

Homage to Wrentham House through selected poems of Emily Dickinson

..As low my fires of drift-wood burn,
I hear that sea's deep sounds increase,
And, fair in sunset light, discern
Its mirage-lifted Isles of Peace.

from 'the chariot' Emily Dickinson

MANSIONS
"Houses" -- so the Wise Men tell me --
"Mansions"! Mansions must be warm!
Mansions cannot let the tears in,
Mansions must exclude the storm!
"Many Mansions," by "his Father,"
I don't know him; snugly built!
Could the Children find the way there --
Some, would even trudge tonight!
Emily Dickinson

In rags mysterious as these
The shining Courtiers go --
Veiling the purple, and the plumes --
Veiling the ermine so.
Smiling, as they request an alms --
At some imposing door!
Smiling when we walk barefoot
Upon their golden floor!
Emily Dickinson



other links
http://oldpoetry.com/column/show/25

Still haven't found a gift for Mom?

It’s not too late to find that special gift for your Mom (or a Mom you know) for Mother’s Day. What would be really exceptional, really unforgettable? What would show her that you’ve been listening? How about a house?!?

Working at Lila Delman Real Estate, you’re bound to occasionally fall in love with a property in the inventory. So if I could choose gifts for some of the many wonderful, hard-working Moms/agents here at Lila Delman, here’s what I would choose.

Families…are you paying attention?

Laura Fauntleroy – 145 Prospect Farm Road – Her face lit up the minute she saw this outstanding home. Perfection in every direction.

Kim Doherty – 325 Ocean Avenue – For a lady who loves architecture and appreciates a masterpiece.

Susan Gustavson – 78 Macomber Lane – Susan has perfected her own beloved cottage and I picture her honing this little gem into her waterfront retreat.

Robin Nicholson – 330 Gray Craig Road – I know she looks forward to every appointment here and grows to like it more every time she visits.

Bridgette Soby – 25 Bedlow Avenue – More room, a nice private yard for play space, and a stylishly renovated house where no detail has been overlooked.

Historic Newport

It always irks me that visitors to Newport - locals too, for that matter - put so much emphasis on the mansions, and focus so little on what really makes Newport special - the spectacular richness of its everyday historic properties.

Probably the single most little-known fact about Newport is that it contains more intact colonial architectural fabric than any city in the country. That's right - in the entire country! More than "Colonial" Williamsburg...more than Boston...more than Savannah, or Salem, or Plymouth, or any other historic city you can name

Newport's streets are lined with literally hundreds and hundreds of historic structures, from private vernacular-style residences to notable public buildings to nationally-known architect-designed buildings from the 18th, 19th & 20th centuries. Not only that, they're still in use, these houses are still alive, not just living on as museum sets or recreations. Scholars from all over the world come to Newport because there is such an abundance of significant early American material still here, in everyday use, material embedded into our every neighborhood and streetscape, the same neighborhoods & streetscapes we drive through evey day and routinely ignore.

If you live around here, authentic 18th century buildings start to seem like they're a dime a dozen, ho hum, and building restrictions & guidelines imposed by the Historic Commission are nothing more than an annoying impediment to getting things done. Few of us ever stop to consider the uniqueness of the almost unbelievable historical authenticity that underlies the facades surrounding us. Does anyone even know or care that Newport is currently seeking inclusion in the list of World Heritage sites? I doubt it. All I ever hear anyone talk about are the mansions...