A4 Architecture Blog
Historical Spotlight: A New Addition to the National Register
This column has often lovingly called Newport the “Metropolitan Museum of Architecture” for the breadth and depth of its collection of important buildings from the colonial times through the early part of the nineteenth century. This audacious claim is based upon the...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: The JNA Griswold House
Newport is the repository of many treasures of American architectural history, including the JNA Griswold House. It is noted for the many surviving colonial-era buildings but the true building boom began around 1850 as Newport became a summer escape for southern...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: The Newport Casino
One of the most widely recognizable buildings in Newport is the Newport Casino. This complex of buildings located on Bellevue Avenue was commissioned in 1879 by James Gordon Bennett, who owned an estate across the street on the site where the Bellevue Garden complex...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: Washington Square – Birthplace of Newport
Newport has been many things over its lifetime: a Gilded Age resort, a post World War II Navy town, and today, an important destination for historic tourism. But at one time Newport was an early colonial settlement that was made prosperous by its excellent harbor and...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: Emmanuel Church, Newport, RI
With the end of Epiphany this past week, the Christian church has entered into Lent, a period of 40 days of reflection and self-denial. With the cold winter we have had here in Rhode Island and the dramatic climate events occurring around the world with increasing and...
Newport Architecture Spotlight: 375 Years of Great Architecture in Newport
As Portsmouth ends the celebration of its founding 375 years ago, Newport’s celebration of the same birthday is just beginning. There are very few communities in America that have been around longer than Newport and none that are better preserved from an architectural...
A4 Guide: Choosing an Architect or Contractor
The last five years have been a quiet time for building construction and design in the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, the volume of construction in the last 5 years is nearly 30% less than the previous five years and is still lower today than it was...
A4 Guide: Suburban Zoning
For nearly forty years, Middletown has proscribed to zoning that requires businesses to set back from the street and encouraged parking lots to be placed in front of buildings. The end result, not surprisingly, was a sea of strip malls and an ocean of pylon signs...
A4 Guide: A Brief History of Insulation
As the leaves turn brilliant colors and the evening temperatures begin to fall, it is time to think about the value and many advantages of good insulation. Insulation is meant to keep heat out in the summer and in during the winter and is measured in “R-value” (with...
A4 Guide: Understanding Complete Streets
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Washington Square Charrette it is useful to revisit the primary recommendations and review what developments have occurred and what other complementary efforts are underway. Change comes slowly and sometimes the most...
A4 Guide: The Secretary of Interior Guidelines for Preservation
This past year has seen many instances where the issues of preservation and rehabilitation have been in the news and on people’s minds. For those who have not been through the procedure of presenting before the Historic District Commission (HDC), the process is...
A4 Spotlight: 2013 Doris Duke Preservation Awards
Newport Rhode Island is fortunate to have one of the most intact collections of important 18th, 19th, and early 20th century buildings anywhere in America. But these buildings have not survived to the present day simply by not being torn down (although that was a...