NRF promotes and invests in the architectural heritage of the Newport community, the traditional building trades, and Doris Duke’s fine and decorative arts collections, for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of all.
As a leader in the preservation of early American architecture, NRF supports research and education in areas directly related to its collections and issues of critical concern to the field of historic preservation.
Tour Doris Duke’s art-filled mansion and enjoy panoramic ocean views from the extensive grounds, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Open late March to November.
Experience the only museum in the world specializing in 18th-century Newport furniture and related decorative arts. Open late May to October.
Explore 40 acres of open space, a tribute to the agrarian heritage of Aquidneck Island. The site is open daily from dawn to dusk for public enjoyment.
Newport Restoration Foundation holds one of the largest collections of period architecture owned by a single organization anywhere in the United States.
Celebrate excellence in historic preservation efforts within the City of Newport, Rhode Island.
Live amidst history by renting one of our many historic properties.
Help us to continue a lived-in legacy by becoming a Restoration Partner today.
66 William Street
The Coggeshall House is a small, one-and-a-half-story house with a stone central chimney and a gambrel roof. The building originally stood in Westport, Massachusetts and was built c.1710. The Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF) purchased the house in 1977, disassembled it, and relocated it to the William Street site. The house came to NRF with a frame, chimney stone, and interior detail all in good condition and was restored in 1977-78.
Two key elements give visual indication that this little house was not built in the Newport design tradition. The first is the shallower angle of the lower roofs. On Newport gambrels of either one or two stories, the angle of the lower section is almost vertical. The second telling feature is the stone chimney, since most eighteenth-century Newport houses used brick for the chimney.
While it is a bit incongruous to place a rural Massachusetts building in the urban setting of Newport, this was not so unusual to earlier preservationists in the 1960s. The important thing then was to save buildings of architectural importance and interest. Clearly, it was best if a building could be saved on its original site or in the vicinity, but if that failed it was moved. Thus many structures were transplanted to new sites all over New England during this period.