National Register of Historic Places

Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House

Middletown, Newport County, Rhode Island
Listed
June 3, 2018
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
100002524

About this property

The Alexander Van Rensselaer House, also known historically as Restmere and Villalou, is a historic house at 1 Ichabod Lane in Middletown, Rhode Island. Built in 1857, it is a prominent example of Italianate architecture, designed by Richard Upjohn, with some of the earliest examples of Stick style decoration in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. The Alexander Van Rensselaer House stands in southwestern Middletown, not far from the Newport line on the north side of Miantonomi Avenue. It is set on a remnant of its original 5-acre (2.0 ha) estate, whose drives are now designated Ichabod Lane and Restmere Terrace. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, covered by a hip roof and finished in wooden clapboards. The roof eave is extended and studded with modillion blocks, above an extended frieze band with applied Stick style decoration, small windows, and drop pendants. A single-story porch extends across the three-bay front facade, with rounded columns rising to rounded arches. A low balustrade echoes the rounded arches between the columns, and along the sides of the flared stair that provides access to the porch. The house was built in 1857 for Alexander Van Rensselaer, a New York City businessman. He had married into the Howland family, who had summered in Newport since the 1830s. Richard Upjohn was retained to design this house, as well as the neighboring Hamilton Hoppin House, built for Van Rensselaer's brother-in-law and family. The two houses were set on nearly identical parcels, which were landscaped together by a series of meandering paths. The house was completed in 1857, two years after the death of Van Rensselaer's wife. His family maintained ownership of the property until 1904. Adolph Louis Audrain, the next owner, undertook significant renovations, and dubbed the estate "Restmere". National Register of Historic Places listings in Newport County, Rhode Island

Location

1 Ichabod Ln
Middletown, Newport County, Rhode Island
41.50662, -71.29639

Categories

ARCHITECTURECOMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Hoppin, Hamilton, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Bird's Nest, The
Industrial
0.3 mi
Witherbee School
Industrial
0.4 mi
Malbone
Industrial
0.7 mi
Miantonomi Memorial Park
Listed
0.7 mi

Nearby Battles

British Occupation of Newport
1776Revolutionary War
1.4 mi
Battle of Rhode Island
1778Revolutionary War
2.9 mi
Battle of Rhode Island – Black Regiment Action
1778Revolutionary War
5.5 mi
Battle of Rhode Island (1778)
1778Revolutionary War
5.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House listed on the National Register?

Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 2018.

What type of historic resource is Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House?

Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House?

The period of significance for Van Rensselaer, Alexander, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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