A4 Architecture Blog
A4 Spotlight: Newport Casino: The Temple to Tennis
This year marks a new chapter in professional tennis in Newport, Rhode Island, where lawn tennis was first introduced to the American continent. For the first time, the Hall of Fame Open will include competition by both men and women, who will be competing for equal...
A4 Spotlight: The 150th of the Founding of St. John’s Episcopal in Newport, RI
St. John The Evangelist Episcopal Church & The Clergy House This year, the congregation of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, located at Washington Street in the Point District of Newport, Rhode Island, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding....
A4 Spotlight: Why Architecture Matters
Hunter House (c.1748 by Peter Harrison) "First we shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us," Winston Churchill famously declared, capturing the profound, reciprocal relationship between humanity and its built environment. Architecture is far more than mere...
A4 Spotlight: The Fountainhead, revisited
In a recent blog about the evolution of “The Ideal Architect" over time, it’s not just real architects who play a role, but fictional ones as well. Howard Roark, the protagonist of Ayn Rand's 1943 novel The Fountainhead, stands as a towering figure in literary...
A4 Spotlight: “The Ideal Architect”
Vitruvius & His Orders, Referring to Columns The "Ideal Architect" has not been a static concept over time but is a reflection of evolving societal values, technological advancements, and artistic movements. Over centuries, this ideal has evolved, from the...
A4 Spotlight: An Architectural History of the Point Neighborhood in Newport, RI
The Point Neighborhood Aerial View Easton's Point (known locally as "The Point") is a neighborhood that has seen the full architectural history of Newport, Rhode Island, from its earliest settlement during the Colonial Era, through to the present day. As such, this...
A4 Event: A Tour of Boxcroft by McKim, Mead & White
Located on Red Cross Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, the Samuel Colman House—more famously known as Boxcroft—stands as a prominent example of the Shingle Style, one of the most distinctive artistic and architectural achievements of the Gilded Age. Designed between...
A4 Event: A Tour and History of The Elms’ Grounds
On May 15, 2025, as part of its ongoing educational mission, Jim Donahue—the Curator of Historic Landscapes at the Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC)—led a tour for members of the PSNC and the Newport Architectural Forum of the grounds of The Elms Mansion....
A4 Spotlight: Partner in Preservation: The Newport Art Museum
The Newport Art Museum is a vibrant cultural hub at the heart of Newport, Rhode Island’s artistic community. It has a rich history that mirrors the city’s own evolution as a center for artistic and intellectual pursuits. Its journey began over a century ago with the...
A4 Spotlight: Partner in Preservation: International Tennis Hall of Fame
There are many institutions in Newport, Rhode Island, that boast outstanding architectural monuments, and one of the most important is the International Tennis Hall of Fame. This institution traces its origins to 1879, when the flamboyant publisher of the New York...
A4 Spotlight: Partner in Preservation: The Preservation Society of Newport County
The Preservation Society of Newport County (PSNC) stands today as one of America's foremost architectural preservation organizations, safeguarding a collection of 11 properties that span the rich social and architectural history of Newport, Rhode Island. Its...
A4 Spotlight: Arbor Day
Arbor Day, a celebration of trees and a call to action for planting them, will be observed this year on April 25. This annual event has a rich history, rooted in one visionary’s concern for the environment and the well-being of future generations. In 1872, Julius...
A4 Guide: Networks
Networks cannot be purchased. They must be built (painstakingly) over time. Networks are the web of connections that you create through living and working and establishing credibility and trust. Back in ancient times before smartphones and computer databases, it was a...
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 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’s Twentieth Anniversary
In Honor of Our 20 Year Anniversary I graduated from Architectural School in 1990 and received my professional license to practice architecture by passing all eight exams by 1993, which was the earliest I was allowed to sit for the exams following a three-year...
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: 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 Project Spotlight: Portsmouth Town Center
Architecture is all about creating buildings and interiors that are beautiful, functional, sustainable, and enjoyable to use. When you add buildings together you create communities. This process, when done consciously, is called “urban design” and “community...
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...
A4 Spotlight: The Original Breakers
(Colorized) Breakers designed by Peobody & Stearns (1878) Even today Newport is filled with Gilded Age mansions. But many of the grand houses that once existed from that time have been lost over time and still others have been replaced with different mansions,...
A4 Spotlight: Electrical Back-up
House with a Whole-House generator in a neighborhood with an outage This past week, many New England communities were struck by a winter Nor’easter, bringing record amounts of snow and electrical outages. We were among those affected, receiving a stark reminder of how...
A4 Spotlight: The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Banff National Park Wildlife Overpass, Canada (2006) Architecture has two components: the building and the setting. As responsible citizens, A4 Architecture and the Newport Architectural Forum are both strong supporters of initiatives that lead to greater...
A4 Spotlight: Cliff Lawn Adaptive Reuse
West Facade (Courtesy of The Chanler) Perched above Newport’s first beach at the entry to famous Cliff Walk, The Chanler at Cliff Walk is more than just a luxury hotel; it is a model for the adaptive reuse of a historic structure. Originally known as Cliff Lawn, this...
A4 Spotlight: Castle Hill Adaptive Reuse
There are two types of mansions in Newport, Rhode Island: those prominent buildings located along Bellevue Avenue, which seek to showcase their grandeur to the public, and those along the winding Ocean Avenue that are located on large secluded lots and largely hidden...
A4 Spotlight: The Grammar of Architecture
Sainte Chapelle (Paris, France, Built 1248) People often think of architecture as the "background" of our lives, but to architects, buildings are complex systems and artistic creations. Just as a novelist uses syntax to convey plot or a composer uses...
A4 Spotlight: Tankless Water Heaters
If you’ve ever been the last person in your household to shower and found yourself shivering under a stream of lukewarm water, you have experienced the primary limitation of the traditional hot water storage tank. For decades, the insulated tank was the standard, but...
A4 Spotlight: Newport’s Vanderbilt Gilded Age Buildings
During the Gilded Age, Newport, Rhode Island, transformed from a quiet summer retreat into a glittering stage for America’s "industrial royalty." At the center of this transformation was the Vanderbilt family and the houses they built and owned. While Commodore...
A4 Spotlight: Innovations in Energy Storage
As the effects of global climate change are accelerating, the need to convert away from the fuels that scientists have identified as the cause of these changes becomes ever more essential. The conversion of energy production from hydrocarbon-based fuels to more...
A4 Spotlight: History of Double Hung Windows
Quaker Meeting House (c. 1699, Newport, RI) The double-hung window, characterized by two movable sashes that slide vertically, is one of the most common features of Western domestic architecture. While we often take their smooth, counterweighted glide for granted...
A4 Spotlight: History of Casement Windows
Medieval Casement Windows (England) For more than 500 years, windows have become one of the primary stylistic components of Western architecture. Long before the sliding sash windows of the Victorian era or the floor-to-ceiling glass of modern high-rises, the casement...
A4 Spotlight: Christmas at Beachmound
Christmas At Beachmound (South Facade) While the massive "cottages" of the Preservation Society, such as The Breakers and Marble House, often draw the holiday spotlight in Newport, the private estates of Bellevue Avenue have their own quiet, historical charm. Among...