The Bellevue: Reviving a Bygone Era
In 1833, a Scottish stonemason, Alexander McGregor, constructed a grand Italianate manor house on Newport’s Bellevue Avenue. Its three stories were clad in fieldstone and granite, with a dramatic columned entrance that rose up from the street. The Stone Villa, later owned by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the publisher of the New York Herald, was built during Newport’s ascent as a wealthy summer enclave, but before the even grander Gilded Age estates that emerged at the turn of the 20th century.
The Stone Villa
In the late 1870’s, when Mr. Bennett ran afoul with Newport’s social set, he envisioned adding a club to the Stone Villa. Instead, his focus turned to a lot across the street that would become, at the hands of McKim, Mead & White, the Newport Casino. Constructed in the Victorian Shingle Style, the Casino housed a social club, reading rooms, lodging, and shops along Bellevue Avenue. Today a National Register historic site, it is home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Stone Villa and the Casino had a symbiotic architectural relationship, with the Villa’s front door aligned with the Casino’s porticoed main entrance. In 1957, however, the Villa was demolished, and the Bellevue Gardens retail plaza was built on the site.
Centerbrook is, in a way, realizing Mr. Bennett’s original vision with our design for The Bellevue, a boutique hotel that will rise where the Stone Villa once stood. Inspired by the villa’s architecture, and that of the later Gilded Age mansions, The Bellevue will house 91 guest rooms, a restaurant, spa, pub, gym, and other amenities for the public. The addition of underground parking nearly doubles the capacity currently provided and allows for the retail shops to remain. Additionally, ample bicycle and scooter parking will be provided at ground level, as this site serves as a gateway to Newport’s attractions along Bellevue Avenue. Once again, the entrances will align, with The Bellevue deferring slightly in height to its shingled neighbor.
Image 1: The Bellevue (left) defers in height to the International Tennis Hall of Fame (right). Image 2: The scale and character of The Bellevue compliments the neighborhood and creates a pleasing streetscape.
Three stories like the Stone Villa, The Bellevue’s interior public spaces will be commodious as they open to two interior open-air gardens. Second and third floor guest rooms will be flooded with light and fresh air from Juliet balconies, with interior rooms looking upon the gardens. The complex holds back from Bellevue Avenue, enlivening pedestrian activity with widened sidewalks, plantings, seating areas, and new street trees.
Passing through the Casino’s entrance transports visitors to a bygone era of grace and simplicity. In recalling Newport’s magnificent architectural heritage, we hope that the manner with which the public experiences The Bellevue will be similarly transformative.
For more information on the design, please see Centerbrook's presentation for Newport’s Technical Review Committee.
Project Partners
Procaccianti Companies, Owner
BVH Integrated Services, Inc., a Salas O’Brien Company, MEP/FP/Structural Engineer
Civil Design Group, LLC, Civil Engineer
Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design, Inc., Lighting Designer
John C. Carter & Co., Inc., Landscape Architect
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