A4 Architecture Blog
A4 Spotlight: The Architectural Heritage of Jamestown, Rhode Island
Jamestown, Rhode Island Light House Jamestown, Rhode Island was first established in 1678 by the Massachusetts Bay Company on Conanicut Island, the second largest island in the Narragansett Bay. Its rich and long history is well reflected in the community’s...
A4 Spotlight: The History and Significance of Hammersmith Farm
Aerial View of Hammersmith Farm (Newport, Rhode Island) Hammersmith Farm is a sprawling estate in Newport, Rhode Island, steeped in history and anchored by a magnificent Victorian Era mansion. It embodies the Gilded Age, an era of architectural grandeur and societal...
A4 Spotlight: Making Architecture from Buildings
East View Before & After of Past Project (Newport, Rhode Island) There is a difference between “Architecture” and “Building.” Architecture is an art form that aspires to create an experience and impact the imagination and mindset of the user whereas building is...
A4 Spotlight: The History and Significance of the Charles Baldwin House
Charles H. Baldwin House (Newport, Rhode Island) In previous articles, we have discussed many buildings in Newport, Rhode Island that have been listed among the 2500 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the United States. One level below that esteemed honor are...
A4 Spotlight: “Strategic Retreat” in Rhode Island
Rhode Island is called the "Ocean State," and is no stranger to the ebb and flow of the waters. But as climate change intensifies, coastal communities are having to confront a difficult choice: fight or retreat. The concept of "strategic retreat," which is the planned...
A4 Spotlight: Preserving Colonial Newport
52 Thames Street Exterior Before & After Newport, Rhode Island, is a city with a rich history dating back to its founding in 1639. It is home to some of the finest examples of Colonial Era architecture in the United States. However, many of historic houses have...
Newport Architect Spotlight: Richard Morris Hunt (Early Career)
JNA Griswold Design Sketch (Above) and the completed house (Below), 1864 Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895) was the first American citizen to be admitted to study at the École des Beaux Arts, the preeminent school of art and architecture in the world during the 19th...
Newport Spotlight: Ida Lewis Yacht Club (ILYC)
Aerial view of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club (Photo Credits: PJ Dougherty) When a city is as old as Newport, Rhode Island, which was founded in 1639, many of the buildings and structures of the city have had to function for many different purposes over time. This blog has...
Newport Architectural Spotlight: Harbour Court
New York Yacht Club - Newport, RI (Photo by Ross Cann A4 Architecture) Following the death of John Nicholas Brown I (1860-1906), his young widow Natalie (Dresser) Brown (1869-1950) commissioned Ralph Adams Cram of the Boston firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson to...
A4 Architectural Spotlight: Newport National Register of Historic Places
White Horse Tavern As any regular reader of the A4 Architecture blog well knows, Newport, Rhode Island is a city with a rich history dating back to its founding in 1639. At the date of the Declaration of Independence, it was the fifth-most populace city in the...
A4 Architectural Spotlight: Newport National Historic Landmarks
The Brick Market Newport, Rhode Island is a city with a rich history dating back to its founding in 1639. At the date of the Declaration of Independence, it was the fifth-most populace city in the American colonies and a major center of trade and commerce. As a...
A4 Spotlight: Fairbourne and Thomas Alexander Tefft
Fairbourne House, previously known as "Quatrel" Over its long history, from its founding in 1639 to the present day, Newport has been a destination for some of the most noteworthy architects in America. Some like Richard Morris Hunt and McKim, Mead, &...
A4 Spotlight: Making Architecture from Buildings
East View Before & After of Past Project (Newport, Rhode Island) There is a difference between “Architecture” and “Building.” Architecture is an art form that aspires to create an experience and impact the imagination and mindset of the user whereas building is...
A4 Spotlight: The History and Significance of the Charles Baldwin House
Charles H. Baldwin House (Newport, Rhode Island) In previous articles, we have discussed many buildings in Newport, Rhode Island that have been listed among the 2500 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the United States. One level below that esteemed honor are...
A4 Spotlight: The History and Importance of the Watts Sherman House
Watts-Sherman House The William Watts-Sherman House is an architectural landmark set amongst the opulent mansions of Newport, Rhode Island. It was designed from 1875-76 by noted architect Henry Hobson Richardson, and although it is a large and gracious home, it is...
A4 Spotlight: The History and Importance of the Isaac Bell House
Isaac Bell House While the Isaac Bell House is a relatively modest building compared to the opulent mansions of Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island which surround it, its historical significance is far greater than its size. This structure, originally called...
A4 Spotlight: Accessory Dwelling Units in RI
Carriage House Render (Newport, RI) As part of our ongoing study of the Affordable Housing shortage in Rhode Island, we will examine the current status of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) within the state. ADUs, also known as “granny flats” or in-law apartments, are...
A4 Spotlight: Affordable Housing in RI
Original Condition Axon (Newport, RI) For an ever-increasing percentage of Americans, the dream of safe, affordable housing remains elusive and the situation in Rhode Island is even more challenging than most places. To understand the current landscape, it is helpful...
A4 Guide: Financing your Project
Financing A Project Diagram Let me preface this article by stating I am an architect and not an accountant or a finance professional, but without a proper financial foundation for a project, it cannot happen. For this reason, we have come to understand the many...
A4 Guide: The Six Phases of the Architectural Design Process
Previous Project on Ocean Ave (Newport, Rhode Island) In previous Archi-TEXT articles it was discussed the value of an architect to help you navigate the various phases of the design of a new home or building or the renovation of an existing one, but what are the...
A4 Spotlight: Best of Newport
Each year since 1997 the readers of the Newport Life Magazine (and now the Newport Daily News, it’s sister publication under the same ownership), have been invited to vote on their favorite restaurants, stores, and professional service providers in Newport County. A4...
A4 Guide: Online Design Tools & Directories
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the world of interior and architectural design that is certainly true. In the past a well-prepared homeowner might have to comb through dozens if not hundreds of design magazines to find images that they liked and...
A4 Guide: Legacy Houses
Ⓒ Nick Mele When most architectural projects are designed, they are created to meet a specific purpose over a particular period of time. A store might be designed to be depreciated over the period of the lease; a hotel might be designed to capture the attention of the...
A4 Guide: Feasibility Analysis
When you want to do a construction or renovation project but you are not sure it is even possible what can a property owner do? This is a situation that many of our potential clients come to us with. We have developed an approach to help these people called the...
A4 Project Spotlight: Osprey House Entry & Gates
The house at 80 Ocean Drive was built on the crest of the Ledges estate, one of the most prominent sites in Newport. After twenty years the owners of the estate were having to share their entry with another house and asked Ross Cann of A4 Architecture back to see if a...
A4 Project Spotlight: Pell Hotel
Newport Rhode Island and the surrounding communities of Jamestown, Middletown and Portsmouth have been popular areas for summer visitation since the Colonial period. Newport Harbor’s well protected, deep-water port so close to the Atlantic Ocean made it an ideal...
A4 Project Spotlight: Car Museum Project
Sometimes at the beginning of a project the client comes to the architect with a project goal that seems like it just might be too challenging or insolvable. When a husband and wife pair of car collectors had purchased an old plumbing warehouse and wanted to convert...
A4 Project Spotlight: Ocean Ave Craftsman
When houses were laid out in a small residential development called Chartier Circle back in the 1950s, little-to-no attention was paid to the spectacular views the area enjoyed. This now Ocean Ave Craftsman style cottage was one of the prime sites at the time, and all...
A4 Project Spotlight: Barrington Ranch House
Design magazines like to show aspirational projects that were built on empty sites with large budgets and lots of time to design and build. There is nothing wrong with such projects, but they are the exception rather than the rule. These projects are the architectural...
A4 Spotlight: Conanicut Yacht Club Awarded
After many years of using a converted farm shed as its "Tennis Hut," the membership of the Conanicut Yacht Club (CYC) decided to explore the possibility of upgrading its facilities. Under the leadership of the Commodore and a few key members, a group of architecture...
A4 Project Spotlight: Newport Home Featured Project – Seaverge Carriage House
A4 Architecture is pleased to announce that one of its projects completed during 2018 was selected for the cover of the annual Newport Home edition. Among the many hundreds of renovations and new construction projects completed each year in the Newport area during...
A4 Project Spotlight: King of Games or Game of Kings?
The players of this 45-minute match in Newport were Larry Phillips, Paul Weber, Prince Edward, and Marc Lewinstein. Last week, Newport played host to Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest child. Edward is on a worldwide tour of Real Tennis courts as part of an...
A4 Project Spotlight: Newport’s Spring
A rendering by L + A Landscape Architecture shows the new public space that would be created from the Florence K. Murray Judicial Complex, at the left side of the image through to Spring Street. The preliminary design for the Newport Historic Spring Project was...
A4 Project Spotlight: Longwharf Renovation
Since the founding of Newport in 1637, Long Wharf has served as the major commercial axis of the city connecting Washington Square to the waterfront. In fact, when George Washington arrived in Newport to meet with General Rochambeau during the Revolutionary War, he...
Architect Spotlight: “My Architect” Louis Kahn
Newport is blessed with many beautiful and important structures which were built between the mid-seventeenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. There have even been some great additions to the architectural fabric of Newport in the last few decades but during...
Newport Architect Spotlight: Wharton/Codman – Newport Architectural Symposium
The fourth annual Newport Architectural Symposium, which was held here last Saturday, focused on the creative interaction between the noted American author Edith Wharton and architect and designer Ogden Codman. These two artistic giants began their careers in Newport,...
A4 Spotlight: The History of Chateau Sur Mer
Chateau-sur-Mer, like so many grand houses in Newport, evolved over its long life showing the influences of multiple owners, multiple architects, and multiple eras in and throughout its walls. In 1851, William Shepard Wetmore, a prominent China trade...
A4 Spotlight: Trinity Church & Queen Anne Square
Buildings don’t just make history at the time of their construction. They often reflect the times when they were enlarged or chosen for restoration and reconstruction rather than demolition. They also become important again when the area around them is redeveloped....
A4 Spotlight: “Affordable Housing Challenges”
Example of A4 Multifamily Housing In recent decades, the landscape of housing construction has undergone significant changes with several new challenges emerging that make it increasingly difficult to build affordable and accessible housing. From the upcoming...
A4 Spotlight: The International House Centenary
The International House (New York City, New York) On September 15, 2024, the International House of New York City turned 100 years old. This institution proves the power of architecture and design not just to change lives but to even help change the world. The...
A4 Spotlight: The 2024 Doris Duke Historic Preservation Awards
18th Annual Doris Duke Awards Invite Cover Newport has a rich history visible through the charm of many of its beautifully designed historic buildings and homes. Responsibility for the preservation and maintenance of these buildings has fallen to the people who...
A4 Spotlight: The History of Stick Framing
The United States construction industry and homeowners benefit from being on a continent that is rich is forests and wood resources. As a result, the vast majority of houses have been built not in stone or adobe brick, but from wood “stick framing” with a cladding of...
A4 Spotlight: CAD vs BIM
Proposed First Floor Plan of a Current Residential Project (Newport, RI) Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) has been a cornerstone of architectural and engineering design since the 1990’s. It revolutionized the industry by replacing traditional hand-drafting methods with...
A4 Sustainability: Carbon Sequestration
The planet is far past the point of being able to avoid Climate Chaos by simply reducing the amount of carbon dioxide humans discard into the atmosphere. The fact that Category 5 hurricanes are now occurring very early in the season along with the warming of oceans...
A4 Architecture Tour: From The Gilded Age Into The Modern Era Along Newport’s Waterfront
The Newport Architecture Tour Map Newport, since its founding in 1639, has been a community wedded to its waterfront and became known as the “City by The Sea”. During its early days, the community grew up on The Point and Historic Hill, with the city depending upon...
A4 Architecture Tour: Late Gilded Age, Ochre Point & Lower Bellevue
The Newport Architecture Tour Map Following the arrival of Caroline Astor (Mrs. William Backhouse When Astor Jr.) to Newport in 1880 things started to change rapidly. What had been a quiet and gentile summer retreat for old money people from New York, Boston,...
A4 Architecture Tour: Early Gilded Age Newport
The Newport Architecture Tour Map During Newport's occupation by the British forces from 1776 to 1779, the population of the town decreased by fifty percent, and it would never return to its status as the fifth most populated city in North America. It was, however,...
A4 Architecture Tour: The Point & Washington Square
The Newport Architecture Tour Map Newport Rhode Island was founded in 1639 when a freshwater spring was discovered near a protected deep-water harbor just off the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike other colonies, such as nearby Massachusetts, the colony of "Rhode Island and...