John Hodnett
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In Newport, a bargain at only $6.51 million

Providence Journal, September 19, 2009 by Christine Dunn, Journal Staff Writer

Wrentham House, is an 1891 Richard Morris Hunt designed 14,400-square-foot stone and shingle mansion on Ocean Drive in Newport.  It has been sold for $6.5 million.        The Providence Journal / John Freidah

Wrentham House, an 1891 stone mansion on Ocean Avenue in Newport, was sold over the summer for $6.51 million, according to records from The Warren Group of Boston.

The historic property, designed by renowned Newport architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted, had been on the market for more than four years, and had been earlier priced at $14.4 million.

The house was sold on July 31 by David and Candace Keefe to Elizabeth and Michael Vitton, according to The Warren Group.  Under the Keefes’ stewardship, the house had undergone a stunning $6-million renovation. The Keefes were honored for their efforts last year by the state Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, which said they “demonstrated remarkable dedication to historical accuracy and ensured a true restoration of the highest quality.”

The 14,400-square-foot mansion features 22 rooms, including 13 full bathrooms, 15 fireplaces and 8 bedrooms. 

The house had been offered in an online auction by the listing agency, Lila Delman Real Estate. Principal broker John Hodnett said the Vittons had been seriously interested in the house prior to the auction.   “The auction certainly may have encouraged them to expedite negotiations and get the property wrapped up,” he said.

The mansion was also cited in 2008 as an example of the excesses of the state’s historic tax credit program, which offered incentives for historical renovation projects.

State legislators voted to virtually eradicate the program, which also helped to make many of the state’s recent mill renovation projects possible.

Wrentham House had been abandoned since the mid-1960s, when an abutting property owner, who wanted privacy, bought the property and left it vacant.  The Keefes bought the house in January of 2000 for $1.35 million, according to Newport records.

David Keefe, who was then the chief of reproductive medicine at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital, and his wife, Candace, obtained historic tax credits worth $1.1 million to renovate the mansion.

Providence Journal, September 19, 2009

by Christine Dunn, Journal Staff Writer