A4 Spotlight: The History and Transformation of Seaweed Cottage

Seaweed Cottage (c.1860) photographed from Spouting Rock Beach.

Seaweed: A Newport Treasure Transformed

Seaweed Cottage, perched dramatically above the Atlantic at the very southern end of Newport’s celebrated Cliff Walk, stands as an example of a quietly distinguished property in a city often known for architectural extravagance. Its story spans more than 165 years of American architectural ambition, patient stewardship, decline and then hard-won architectural restoration. As such, It is representative of a narrative that mirrors the architectural history of Newport itself.

Early Beginnings

The house was originally completed in 1861 for Henry Howard, a prosperous Rhode Islander who purchased a spectacular oceanfront site where the land meets the sea overlooking the famous “Spouting Rock Beach.” The original structure reflected the mid-Victorian sensibility of its era — domestic in scale, picturesque in character, and suited to the life of a cultivated summer family. Only six years after its completion, the house received its first architectural revision at the hands of George Champlin Mason in 1867, the prominent Newport architect who shaped much of the city’s residential fabric during those decades. Mason’s alterations likely refined and expanded the original cottage while preserving its essential Victorian character.

First expansion

The more consequential transformation came at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Seaweed was updated by one of the Gilded Age’s most celebrated and prolific architects. In 1904, Horace Trumbauer, a Philadelphia architect without formal academic training but with extraordinary facility for absorbing and reproducing historical European styles, was hired to transform and expand the relatively modest Victorian-era cottage into a much grander and classically inspired house. Trumbauer had by then already made a splash in Newport with his design of The Elms for the Berwind family and would go on to reshape Rough Point for the Duke family. At Seaweed, he brought his characteristic classical vocabulary to bear, elevating the property from a simple survivor of an earlier era into something far grander and more imposing — a residence fully worthy of its prime oceanfront position overlooking Newport’s most exclusive beach. [A4 Architecture Inc]

A Celebration of Trumbauer

The house remained in various private hands through the twentieth century, its Trumbauer-remodeled bones stayed intact even as Newport’s fortunes rose and fell around it. Seaweed # was selected as the third of the three Newport properties visited during a 2012 Newport Architectural Symposium dedicated to Trumbauer’s work The house had been recently and extensively restored by its current owners. That restoration effort proved transformative not merely for the building itself but for its standing with in the preservation community. [A4 Architecture Inc]

Honored with a Doris Duke Preservation Award

In September 2014, the Doris Duke Historic Preservation Awards were presented at Duke’s Rough Point, where the three projects were honored for their contributions to Newport’s historic architectural landscape. Among the recipients was the meticulous renovation of Seaweed, with the honor presented owners Holly Bannister and Douglas Newhouse. The annual award, administered jointly by the Newport Restoration Foundation and the City of Newport, takes its name from the philanthropist and preservationist whose vision rescued dozens of the city’s historic structures from neglect and demolition beginning in the 1960s. To win this prize is to be recognized by the very institution Doris Duke built to safeguard the architectural soul of Newport.

But the Seaweed preservation story did not end there. In 2017, Bannister and Newhouse were again recognized for undertaking the challenging historic restoration of the Mailand and Westcliff Carriage House at 37 Ledge Road, which abuts Seaweed. That carriage house, originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt for the Mailand estate in 1875 and relocated in 1893, had fallen into a dilapidated state. The owners conducted meticulous historical research before restoring its exterior to period-appropriate form while sensitively updating its interior for contemporary use. [A4 Architecture Inc]

Today, unlike the many great Newport estates that have become museums or institutions since their construction, Seaweed remains a private residence. Walkers along the Cliff Walk still catch views of it as they pass, perhaps unaware of the multiple architectural lives compressed within its walls: a Victorian gentleman’s summer retreat, a Gilded Age showpiece remade by a master architect, and now a privately owned but publicly cherished landmark that has earned the highest recognition Newport’s preservation community can bestow.

A4 Architecture has been pleased to assist many owners in a consulting capacity for both their minor and major renovations. If you have a New England building project in mind where quality and fine design are critical, please reach out to the award-winning professionals at A4 Architecture to assist you in realizing your architectural dreams. We look forward to hearing from and working with you.

 

Ross Cann, RA, AIA, LEED AP, is an author, historian, and is the founding Principal of A4 Architecture located in Newport, RI. He holds honor degrees in Architecture and Architectural History from Yale, Cambridge, and Columbia Universities and has taught architectural history in a variety of settings for nearly thirty years.