BROADLAWNS CLR

BROADLAWNS Cultural Landscape Report DECEMBER 20, 2018

endorsed by

THE NEWPORT TREE SOCIETY AND ARBORETUM

report prepared by PLACESTUDIO LLC, LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Summary Report Cultural Landscape Report Newpor t, Rhode Island

INTRODUCTION Historical Research Methodology

HISTORY Area Property

TREE INVENTORY BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Introduction The Newpor t Tree Society and Arboretum + Cultural Landscapes “Newport’s emerging reputation as the City of Arboreta establishes it as a thought-provoking model for community forestry, conservation, heritage horticulture, and landscape preservation.” – Newport Arboretum The Newport Tree, Parks & Open Space Master Plan specifies the creation of Cultural Landscape Reports (CLR) for eleven historic parks and multiple driftways and cemeteries as a near-term next step in open space planning for the city of Newport.

In addition to this citywide effort, the Newport Arboretum is working with home owners of historically significant properties to provide historic property research, existing property plan, and tree inventory, in the form of a comprehensive Cultural Landscape Report.

PLACEstudio, LLC is honored to produce the first such Cultural Landscape Report for ‘Broadlawns’.

Broadlawns Cultural Landscape Report Contributors: PLACEstudio, LLC: Tanya Kelley, Principal, writing and editing; Kate Dana and Catherine Druken, Associates, graphic design; Anne Benson, MA; historic research

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Research Methodology Research Methodology The historical research methodology for Broadlawns at 41 Ridge Road in Newport, employed several general histories of Rhode Island, in particular, Bicknell’s History of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. For general Newport history, Stensrud, whose history of the colonial period is particularly useful, and Warburton, who writes in detail about Newport in the Gilded Age. After these general works, three local Newport institutions were the principal sources for this history—The Newport Historical Society, The Redwood Library and Athenaeum, and the City of Newport’s Office of Land Evidence—as well as the internet. The reference librarians at the Newport Public Library were also a resource as they were able to help provide access back copies of the Newport Daily News.

Bert Lippincott, at the Newport Historical Society (NHS) provided many useful directions with regard to family histories, particularly of the Brenton family as well as several other families whose members have owned the property. Among these histories Elizabeth Brenton’s 1853 “History of Brenton’s Neck,” published by the Newport Mercury was particularly charming. The Historical Society also supported John Tschirch’s work “Mapping the Newport Experience” which provided many useful details important to this project. The NHS also provided access to its holdings of atlases and maps of Newport, assisted in finding particulars on the many maps of Newport made over the centuries and now available online through the Library of Congress. These maps were especially useful in locating the historic site of the Point of Trees.

Several books were found at the NHS including: Frederick Waterman’s book on the founding of the

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Newport Country Club, multiple books about yachts and yachtsmen in Newport, as well as Yarnall’s Newport Through Its Architecture which provided evidence that George Champlin Mason (GCM) had indeed designed and built “Wol-me”, the first summerhouse on the property at 41 Ridge Road.

This evidence was not provided in any of the books by or about GCM at the NHS, Redwood Library, or Newport Public Library. The NHS archives also hold folders of historic photographs of Ocean Drive and Brenton point, three of which are featured with permission in this document.

The Redwood Library (RL) has a substantial collection of historical documentation regarding the history of Newport. Some of these books and documents are available only by appointment with the assistance of Patrick Crowley, the RL’s Special Collections Librarian. In the RL’s Newport Room a complete set of Newport’s Social Index were found, which proved very useful in ascertaining who lived at Broadlawns and the adjoining Sunset Ridge over the various summer seasons. The RL also holds all the Newport Atlases as well as some compendia of maps not available at the NHS—all of these atlases were used to pinpoint the historic location of the Point of Trees as well as to confirm the ownership and boundaries of 41 Ridge Road, Sunset Ridge and their abutting lots over the years. Records held at Newport’s Office of Land Evidence (OLE) were inspected with clear goals in mind. Upon consulting Bayle’s History of Newport County at the RL an engraving depicting Wol-me with its view actors the East Passage to Jamestown was found. Several works by and about George Champlin Mason and Frederick Law Olmsted (and his heirs/firm) were used in the research. There is no evidence or suggestion at the RL or any other local library that

Olmsted, his firm, or his heirs had ever planned, designed, or consulted for any landscape work at Broadlawns or Sunset Ridge.The RL’s resources include biographies of Olmsted and his companies, several general works on landscape architecture that feature Olmsted (senior and the second) as well as Olmsted (the second)’s pamphlet “Proposed improvements for Newport” (1913) and seven volumes of Olmsted (senior)’s letters.

At the OLE, with the help of its archivist, all the pertinent deeds concerning 41 Ridge Road/ Broadlawns and its abutting properties as well as the tax records and probate records of its deceased owners were found. Copies of wills pertaining to property existing in Newport, whether or not the probate was settled in Newport are also available.

In only a couple of instances was a survey map found, and those are included in the history portion of this document. In most instances the boundaries of a parcel are described verbally, except in the case of tax records, where the boundaries are often shown on a map drawn specifically for tax purposes and the resulting parcels given numbers.

The Internet provided many useful leads and resources. For example, Tschirch’s work is available for download, and was therefore used it in electronic format. Several references, particularly Wikipedia, provided insight on the lives of various owners whose documentation is carefully confirmed using references and footnotes provided in the entry. Google Books was also helpful, especially in exploring the history of the Low family. References to Newport in the Olmsted Archives that are physically held in Brookline, Massachusetts were accessed online and there was no evidence,

suggestion, or hint of work having been done either at Broadlawns, Sunset Ridge or any property adjoining Broadlawns.

NOTE ON THE LOCATION OF THE POINT OF TREES

The earliest mention of The Point of Trees was found on a map hanging in the lobby of the NHS, drawn in 1860 by Charles Hammett. It shows the point located along the shoreline, at a guess, about 100 yards northeast of the current Broadlawns property line, a line which has not changed noticeably from this date to the present. The next mention of the Point of Trees is on the map from the 1876 Atlas of Newport, and consequently the Point is shown at more or less the same spot on the succeeding Atlases of 1883 and 1893. The Point of Trees is no longer shown on the 1907 and 1921 maps from the Atlases of those years.

It is not shown on the most detailed of NOAA’s nautical charts of Narragansett Bay, chart 13221 “The East Passage to Narragansett Bay.” The point was not mentioned in the language of any of the deeds or wills that were used during research at the OLE, nor was it mentioned in any of the other books or records that were consulted. Google Earth and Google Maps show the Point of Trees further northeast along the coastline, the exact spot being difficult to pinpoint.

(The citations for the works mentioned in this summary may be found in the bibliography.)

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History

‘Broadlawns’ 41 Ridge Road: A report on the property and its history EARLY SETTLEMENT The property comprising what is now 41 Ridge Road was originally part of the lands belonging to the Narragansett people of the region, whose leaders were Connanicus and Miantonomi. A group of English colonists, its members having departed or fled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century, made a treaty with the local Indians of Aquidneck Island in order to acquire lands for building and farming in a new colony they hoped to establish. The land was deeded to John Coddington “and his friends” in 1637 and was signed by “the two sachems and witnessed by Roger Williams and Randall Holden.”1

COLONIAL ERA

Figure 1. Map Plan de la position de l’armée françoise autour de Newport et du mouillage de l’escadre dans la rade de cette ville, made by the French in 1778.

(Inset showing French Encampment)2

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Coddington and the other men who are considered Newport’s founders soon divided the land among themselves. The Ridge Road property became part of William Brenton’s holdings; an area known as Brenton’s Point. William Brenton came to Boston from England in the early 17th century, from exactly where is not known. In Newport and in the new colony of Rhode Island he prospered financially and socially; he also served as a governor. During the Revolutionary War, most of the Brenton family members remained loyal to England and many Brentons left Newport for Kingstown across the Narragansett Bay to the west.

1778 The map Fig. 1. shows a French Encampment during the Revolutionary War on what is now the 48th fairway of the golf course at the Newport Country Club, just to the south east of 41 Ridge Road. The land from Fort Adams south to Castle Hill and east to Price’s Neck is owned by the Brenton family, as the next map shows, with the name James Brenton, just below the property’s current boundaries. The property is divided into two farms, Rocky Farm to the east, and Hammersmith Farm to the west.

Figure 2. Detail from Blaskowitz Map of 1777 showing landscape features. At this time, James Brenton, an heir of Jahleel Brenton appears to have owned the land at 41 Ridge Road, although there are no boundaries marked. The property is still part of the Brenton family’s holdings and is still often referred to Hammersmith Farm.

Present day Hammersmith Farm occupies the northern part of the peninsula which bears the name of Benjamin Brenton on this map. The black dot is most likely the site of the first house there, known as the Four Chimney House.

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History The land that the Brenton property occupied was particularly verdant and a variety of plants and trees flourished there. Elizabeth Brenton (1778-1870), daughter of Benjamin Brenton (d.1830), using her father’s reminiscences, in 1853 wrote a series of articles about the area in earlier days for the Newport Mercury, describing it thus:

The record of a deed from Jahleel to James Brenton, for property now 41 Ridge Road. The deed is in Newport’s City Hall. This deed (LE 4:6) and others show how the heirs of Jahleel Brenton began the subdivision of William Brenton’s Lands.

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In 1638 William Brenton had taken possession of the Peninsular (sic) called Brenton’s Neck, the boundary of which went from the Lime Rocks, east, forming the northern boundary of Rocky Farm, and extending to the sea shore on every side. In this was comprised over 2,000 acres of land of the richest soil and presently the most picturesque scenery, diversified with hills, valleys, bays and ponds, fields adorned with the most luxuriant grass, jutting rocks fringed with rich foliage mingled with wild flowers, trees of superior growth—the hemlock, spruce and cedar, the maple, oak and chestnut crowned the summits of the hills; and east of the little cove, shadows of the majestic oak were oft reflected around the rocky base that sustained them…By William Brenton all this land was called Hammersmith and divided into two farms, east and west—the one lying west was very little cultivated while he lived, but after his death it was named by his son Jahleel “Rocky Farm,” but all the land surrounding the brick building (probably on or near the site of the current main building at Hammersmith Farm—author’s note) and extended in a southerly direction including the Castle Hill land, was cultivated for the use of grain and grass, butter and cheese, poultry and vegetables; the latter of which were far superior to any raised in the present period…The land comprising Castle Hill Farm was noted for the profusion of strawberries, with which many of the hills and fields abounded.”

When the Revolutionary War was over, and Rhode Island finally, and somewhat reluctantly, had become the thirteenth state on May 4, 1790, conditions in Newport and on Aquidneck Island generally went into a decline. There were many reasons, primarily economic but also geographic, for this state of affairs: war damage to property resulting from the British occupation, political infighting, squabbles over currency systems, disputes as to where the center of state power should be housed, lack of rivers to provide water-driven mill power—these were only some of the problems.3 The Ridge Road property and the surrounding lands remained dedicated to agriculture, and by the mid-century had passed from Brenton family ownership.

Figure 3. This map, by Charles Hammett, published in 1860, is the first to show the Point of Trees. Landscape features show hills and vegetation. Henry Batty (or Battey) owns the land comprising the present-day Hammersmith Farm, and Edward King, who was a China Trade merchant and a prominent citizen of Newport as well as a land speculator, owns what is now 41 Ridge Road.

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History

Figure 4. Rocky Farm and Cherry Neck, by George Champlin Mason. Painted in the mid-19th century—a view looking west, toward Brenton’s Point. The area is still rural and used for farming.

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There were features of Aquidneck Island, and of Newport in particular, however, that remained constant and untouched by economic decline.

These were the area’s unique setting and its landscape’s glorious natural beauty. In colonial times, well-heeled refugees from the heat and fevers of the Carolinas sailed north to spend their summers in the more wholesome and temperate air of Newport. These visitors rented accommodations from locals or bought properties themselves—thus becoming the very first of the “summer people” who would shape Newport’s economic destiny forever.

Figure 5. The 1876 Atlas of Newport shows Edward King as owner of the current 41 Ridge Road, and Abiel Low as owner the property to the north that will soon be named Sunset Ridge.

41 Ridge Road shows two very small buildings, probably stables to the west and a small barn or farm building to the east of the stables.

Abiel Low and his brother Josiah were wealthy merchants and shipowners from Brooklyn, New York who had made their fortunes trading with China and other countries in the Far East.4 In 1891, Josiah Low bought the property south of his brother’s from Edward King’s widow, Mary Augusta King.

The Low/King deed card (LE 52:479) of 1881 indicating that the deed is on file at Newport City Hall.

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History

Figure 6. The 1883 Atlas of Newport shows that Josiah Low owns what is now 41 Ridge Road. Note that the size of the buildings has increased, indicating that the house (see below) had replaced the farm buildings that previously stood there.

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By the mid-19th century Newport’s summer population had increased significantly and businesses that catered to it were beginning to prosper. The economy made a solid recovery; everyone was building—along with hotels, substantial wood-frame summer homes also became popular with summer people, especially in the Kay Street/Old Beach Road area. The next area of development was Bellevue Avenue, and as the century progressed, the houses grew bigger and their owners richer. In 1883, when Josiah Low owned 41 Ridge Road (see above), Bellevue Avenue was anchored by James’s Gordon Bennett’s Casino, which was designed by the prominent architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. The Casino was a popular gathering place for both summer folk and townspeople who, with the increasing amounts of leisure time on their hands could watch tennis matches, plays and entertainments, play croquet, as well as dance, dine, and drink.

Figure 7. This bird’s eye perspective map from 1878 by Galt and Hoy shows that at this date, the land south of the town of Newport is still little settled.

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History

Figure 8. This lithograph of the Casino by C. Graham appeared in Harper’s Weekly in 1883.

As the Gilded Age began to peak and Bellevue Avenue was built up with increasingly impressive summer “cottages,” eyes turned southward toward the lovely rolling seascapes of Price’s Neck and Brenton’s Point as the places to build the grandest and most opulent cottages yet. As Eileen Warburton points out, summer life among the new aristocracy of wealth was about far more than escape from city life and relaxation. It was a competition: Within a few years, climate and scenery notwithstanding, the wealthy and powerful came to Newport because successful summer seasons in the Queen of Resorts were absolutely fundamental to the family’s social ambitions.5

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Ocean Drive was begun in 1868, allowing access to spectacular new seaside vantage points, and the summer cottage boom quickly spread south from Bellevue Avenue, changing the land use of the area forever. The drive was a dream of the Newport architect and painter George Champlin Mason, and its design was supported and planned by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and the firm of McKim, Mead and White.6

Figure 9. A late 19th century photograph from the Newport Historical Society shows the beginnings of development on Ocean Drive at Gooseneck Cove.

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History Josiah and Seth Low (who was Mayor of Brooklyn as well as president of Columbia University) owned adjoining properties that overlooked the East Passage of Narragansett Bay. On each property stood a substantial woodframe house designed

by Newport architect George Champlin Mason.

Josiah’s was “Wol-me” (now Broadlawns) and Seth’s “Sunset Ridge.”7 The naming of Newport summer homes was de rigueur at this time, a practice perhaps reflecting English and Continental traditions of naming grand country estates.

The postcard (Fig. 11) shows a view from Wol-me.

The land rises up quite steeply from the rocky shore before leveling off, and from it the Lows and their guests had a fine vantage point across the East Passage of Narragansett Bay toward Jamestown’s Fort Dumplings as well as at the islands to its north that are known as “the Dumplings.” (The most northerly of these is Clingstone, where the famous House on the Rock will be built in the early 20th century). Wol-me overlooked the ship, boat, and pleasure craft that passed in and out of the Bay and caught the cooling airs of the summer afternoon’s southwesterly.

Figure 10. 1893 Atlas of Newport showing that Seth Low (Abiel’s son and Josiah’s nephew who now owns Sunset Ridge) and Josiah Low have acquired adjoining plots east of Ridge Road—land that had belonged to M.A. King. Ridge Road has been named.

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Figure 11.

A contemporary artotype image, showing Low’s Wol-me and a view from the grounds of Wol-me looking toward Jamestown (see below).

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History

Figure 12. Watching the yachts and sailing craft from Brenton’s Point or Castle Hill, c.1900.

The late years of the 19th century saw the rise of sport and recreation of all kinds, and for all kinds.

The rich and middle class had more time on their hands as well as more money in their pockets, and, because of slowly improving labor conditions, even the poor were more likely to have at least one day off per week on which they could afford to enjoy themselves. Newport’s summer cottagers naturally engaged in elite sports—those requiring the wealth and social position that allowed membership in private clubs—primarily tennis, golf, polo and yachting. Yachting, of course, was the most elite of sports, and required the most money—one could not be a yachtsman without a yacht. While there is no evidence that any of the Low family were yacht owners, their properties certainly would have afforded a fine view of the many yachts, great and small, that sailed and

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raced and steamed in and out of the Bay. Golf was another of the popular sports for the wealthy that flourished in the Ocean Drive area during the Low family’s tenure at the Ridge Road property. The Newport Country Club was founded in 1894 by Theodore Havermeyer and a group of friends on land adjacent to and just east of that of the Lows’. That parcel, where the clubhouse would be built, was also purchased from the King family; the golf course itself would start with a designed nine-hole layout, and later expanded.

Josiah Low died in Newport in 1895, and his will, a copy of which may be seen in Newport City Hall probate records (Vol. 49, p. 516), shows that he left the bulk of his considerable estate, including Wol-me, to his daughter Mary.9

Figure 13. Detail of map of lands acquired by the Newport Country Club, superimposed on the 1893 Map of Newport, showing the club’s proximity to the Low properties.8

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History

Figure 14. The 1907 Atlas shows that the property has been named Broadlawns.

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Mary married Samuel L. Huntington, and the couple renamed the property “Broadlawns.” In 1912 the Huntingtons purchased a lot adjoining Broadlawns to the south, from Guan Hutton. (LE 96:76). Hutton had purchased the land from T. Suffern Tailer, who in turn bought it from E.E. McCagg, who was an heir of Edward King. Upon Mary’s death in 1915,10 Samuel sold Broadlawns to New York City attorney, Louis Cass Ledyard. The deed records and a plot survey are shown to the right:

Drawing of plot added by above deed in 1912.

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History The extent of Ledyard’s holdings in the Ridge Road properties in 1915 consisted of Sunset Ridge, Broadlawns with its addition to the southwest purchased by the Huntingtons, and the two lots across Ridge Road to the east that had been purchased by the Low family from the King heirs.

Card for the Huntington/Ledyard deed, recorded in Newport City Hall. (LE 100:399)

Figure 15. 1921 Atlas of Newport showing Ledyard properties on Ridge Road.

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Ledyard was an influential and successful lawyer, well-connected, extremely wealthy; both civic minded and socially prominent. His law firm represented various important entities like the New York Stock Exchange and influential individuals such as J.P. Morgan. Ledyard was a founder of the New York Public Library and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum. He was a keen yachtsman and served as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1900 and 1901; records show him owning at least two substantial yachts—the schooner yacht Ranger of 104 feet, and a steam yacht, Rambler.

The war years and the imposition of income tax put an end to the already foundering Gilded Age. Stensrud sums it up nicely, describing the occasion of Mrs. Alva Belmont’s 1914 Chinese Costume Ball at Marble House as a “final going away party for the Gilded Age, although no one knew the end was so near.”12 Newport suspended its summer social scene for the duration, and many of the wealthy super hostesses turned to volunteer and charity work. When war was finally declared in 1917, Newport’s essence was military—it was home to the U.S. Naval Training Station on Coaster’s Island which would ultimately house 10,000 troops.

Warships were serviced and docked at naval wharves and hundreds of civilian workers were employed at the Navy base and at the Torpedo Station.13 Submarine nets were stretched across the Bay’s East Passage, from Fort Adams to Fort Dumplings in Jamestown.

Louis Cass Ledyard retained ownership of Sunset Ridge, but his stepdaughter, Jean Morris, the child of his second wife Isabel Morris (who was divorced from Thurlow Weed Barnes) was chosen to inherit Broadlawns upon his death. The Newport Social Index of 1925 shows Jean and her husband Mansfield Ferry as being summer residents at Broadlawns, while Ledyard and Isabel lived at Sunset Ridge. The “Roaring Twenties” no doubt brought back a little of the old glamour of the pre-war years, but by 1930, with the ravages of the Great Depression, the glory days of “the cottages” had definitely come to an end.

Ledyard died in 1932, and Jean Morris Ferry duly inherited Broadlawns. The bequest may be read in the City of Newport’s Probate records (Vol. 100, p.

353), and quite touchingly show Ledyard’s affection for his stepdaughter.

“I make the said dispositions in favor of the said Jean Ferry because I know that my son Louis Cass Ledyard, Jr., would not be able to use my said country place if I left to him as he already has his own home on Long Island, and I am glad to be able to leave this expression of my love to my dear stepdaughter, Jean Ferry.”

In the years following Jean and Mansfield Ferry lived at the Broadlawns property; Mansfield Ferry dying in 1938. Jean seems to have managed well—the 1940 census shows her living on Park Avenue with several servants in residence and the Newport Social Index tells us that she continued to summer at Broadlawns and her mother at Sunset Ridge, at least until 1948, the publication’s last year.

Isabel Ledyard died in 1955, and consequently the Ledyard heirs sold off the two parcels of the property that lay to the east of Ridge Road.

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History The 1950s brought massive economic and social changes to the country as a whole, and to Newport as well. The Depression, followed by four years of war had ended the giddy, carefree social whirl— opulent, over the top living and entertaining during “the season” was virtually at an end. Many of the summer cottages lay neglected and/or derelict, the premises and land sold off to speculators.

Fewer people were willing to work as servants or groundskeepers; a new generation of ex-soldiers was off to college on the GI Bill. People aspired to a new version of the American dream—a home of one’s own with a decent job that paid well enough to support an independent life and send the kids to college. For a time, at least, extreme socioeconomic inequality had leveled off.

By the 1960s Newport was a Navy town. The Navy was the principal employer, its sailors and civilian workers were the principal customers for local businesses. Blood Alley, on Thames Street was a warren of strip joints and honky-tonk saloons.

Day trippers swarmed the beaches and drove their

flashy new cars around “the Drive.” Hippies and folkies turned out en masse for the music festivals and partying. The eyes of the socially prominent began to turn elsewhere—to Aspen, Palm Beach, and various fashionable watering holes of Europe.

The Newport Social Index was diminished—fewer pages, soft covers. Many of the old names hung on, but often in reduced and sometimes even distressed circumstances.

Jean Ferry hung on to Broadlawns, but after her death on November 9, 1963, her heirs decided to sell. Probate records show that she left the property to her principal heirs to be divided equally, and perhaps that was an impetus for the sale. In any case, the deed passed to the Newport Ocean Corporation on May 5, 1965. Newport Ocean Corp. had grand plans to bring the old wealth back to Newport by opening a private club with a research health clinic, several swimming pools and recreation facilities.14 Ocean Corp. commissioned a topographical survey, shown below (Fig. 16).

Figure 16. This survey, done for Ocean Corp in 1965, shows “Parcel A” (today’s 41 Ridge Road) complete with existing buildings and topographical features. The slight bulge in the coastline, just across the (northern) property line, appears to be the site of the “Point of Trees” shown on earlier maps (see above).

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The Ocean Corp. enterprise failed, and in July 1968 the land was sold at a foreclosure auction to the Cosmos Bank, a Swiss firm that held the mortgage, for $390,000 in 1968.15 The next chapter for Broadlawns involved two women, Beatrice Goelet Manice and Ann Gambrill Casey, who must have been good friends at the outset of their venture at least, because in 1968, on the same day as the foreclosure auction, they jointly bought the Broadlawns property and the former Sunset Ridge property from the Cosmos Bank and held it as “tenants in common”. Each partner had right of first refusal should the other decide to sell.

Tax records show the lots as having been numbers 20½ and 21, Broadlawns and Sunset Ridge, respectively.

In 2004, John Colin Keith of Greenwich Connecticut bought Broadlawns from the heirs of Ann Casey, and Ann’s husband, James Casey who died in 2001.

Keith did extensive renovations to the house and ground with the assistance of architect Steve Laurin + Company, Franklin & Co. Interior Design, and PLACEstudio, LLC.

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Figure 17. Aerial image of present day Broadlawns property and surroundings.

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Addendum

ADDENDUM Thorough research was executed regarding whether or not Frederick Law Olmsted, his partners or his firm had ever planned or proposed any landscape or garden design for the property at 41 Ridge Road, known as Broadlawns. After consulting several general sources (letters, biographies) as well as the Olmsted firm’s “Proposed Improvements for Newport” and the Olmsted archive in Brookline, Massachusetts, we could find no evidence for Olmsted, his partners or his firm having done so.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.

T.W. Bicknell, The History of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1920), 288.

2.

Map, Library of Congress. With inset: Wetman, The History of the Newport Country Club (2013), 11.

3.

R. Stensrud, Newport: A Lively Experiment (2015) 207-442 and passim.

4.

State of New York, Chamber of Commerce 38th Annual Report (1895-6), 20.

5.

In Living Memory 2nd ed. (2015), 11.

6.

J. Tschirch, Mapping the Newport Experience (nd) 25.

7.

J. Yarnall, Newport Through its Architecture (2005), 209.

8.

Wetman, 99.

9.

City of Newport, Probate Records (Dec. 23, 1893) v49, 516.

10.

City of Newport, Vital Records shows that Mary died on March 15, 1915 aged 60.

11.

Wikipedia (with appropriate references) “Lewis Cass Ledyard” and C. Shaw, The Ledyard Family in America (nd), 205. The yacht ownership is verified in Yachts and Yachtsmen (1894) and in J.Rousmanier, The History of the New York Yacht Club (2008).

12.

Stensrud, 442.

13.

Hattendorf, J. “Naval history has long been intertwined with Newport’s”, Newport.com: http://www.newportri. com/56deef05-6ed0-5c3a-9726-3dc95185ba24.html

14.

“Annandale Farm and Broadlawns Sold to Swiss Bank for $390,000.” Newport Daily News, July, 1968.

15.

Ibid.

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KEY TO FIGURES Figure 1.

Map: Plan de la position de l’armée françoise autour de Newport et du mouillage de l’escadre dans la rade de cette ville, 1778. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/ g3774n.ar102000/?r=-0.167,0.353,0.575,0.238,0 accessed August 7, 2018. Map with inset: see endnote 2. Digital image by author.

Figure 2.

Map: Detail from Blaskowitz, Charles. A topographical chart of the bay of Narraganset in the province of New England, with all the isles contained therein, among which Rhode Island and Connonicut have been particularly surveyed, shewing the true position & bearings of the banks, shoals, rocks &c. as likewise the soundings; To which have been added the several works & batteries raised by the Americans. Taken by order of the principal farmers on Rhode Island, 1777. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/74692135/ accessed August 7, 2018.

Figure 3.

Map: Detail from Hammett, Charles. Township of Newport with Part of Middletown, 1860. Newport Historical Society, Lobby.

Digital image by author.

Figure 4.

Painting: Rocky Farm and Cherry Neck, George Champlin Mason, oil on canvas, 26” x36”, Redwood Library and Atheneum. Digital image, https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/ a9/38/c5a9389658b2a9541196f2fa25300f34.jpg, accessed August 7, 2018.

Figure 5.

Map: Detail from Hopkins, G. M., City Atlas of Newport, Rhode Island: Philadelphia, 1878. Digital image by author.

Figure 6.

Map: Detail from Hopkins, G. M., Atlas of the City of Newport, Rhode Island: Philadelphia, 1883. Digital image by author.

Figure 7.

Map: Galt and Hoy, Newport, R.I., 1878. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3774n.pm008790/ ?r=-0.601,-0.037,2.202,0.91,0 Accessed August 7, 2018.

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Figure 8.

Lithograph: C. Graham, Newport Casino. Harper’s Weekly, 1888. Taken from Tschirch, Mapping Newport http://www. newporthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/NHSMappingNewportEssayFinal.pdf, p 21. Accessed August 7, 2018.

Figure 9.

Photograph: Ocean Drive, Newport Historical Society Archives, P5640.jpg.

Figure 10.

Map: Richards, J. L. Atlas of the City of Newport: Springfield, MA, 1893. Digital image by author.

Figure 11.

Artotype: E. Bierstadt, Wol-me, Residence of Josiah Low, Newport. From Bayles, R. (ed.), The History of Newport County, Rhode Island: New York, 1888. p. 600. Digital image by author.

Figure 12.

Photograph: Breton Point, Newport Historical Society Archives, P3012.jpg.

Figure 13.

Map: (See endnote 8.) Richards, J. L. as in Figure 10. Digital image by author.

Figure 14.

Map: Richards, J. L., Atlas of the City of Newport and the Towns of Middletown and Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Springfield, MA, 1907. Digital image by author.

Figure 15.

Map: Sanborn Map Company, Atlas of Newport, Jamestown, Middletown and Portsmouth, Rhode Island: New York, 1921.

Digital image by author.

Figure 16.

Survey Map: St. John, H. Topographical Survey, Land of Newport Ocean Corp: Newport, RI, July 30, 1965. Drawing # 5-5, Plat card # 1969 s0016911. Newport City Hall, Land Evidence Office. Digital image by author.

Figure 17.

Image: Aerial photograph via Google Earth, August 2016.

10

40

'

Cornus kousa 'Constellation' Quercus cerris

50'

X 14 6 64 2 13 19

50 27 33 44

TREE INVENTORY SCALE 1:100

PLACEstudio COPYRIGHT 2018

Ulmus minor x parvifolia 'Frontier' Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea' Catalpa bignonoides Fagus sylvatica 'Asplenifolia'

Cryptomeria japonica 'Yoshino' Cornus kousa 'Samaritan'

Fagus sylvatica Fagus sylvatica Carpinus betulus 'Pendula' Ilex aquifolium Acer platanoides Cryptomeria japonica 'Yoshino' Fagus sylvatica

13 11

49 X 7 28

Ulmus propinqua 'Emerald Sunshine' Fagus sylvatica 'Asplenifolia' Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' Quercus cerris

8 Cedras atlantica ' X 40 Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea' 5 Acer rubrum 41 Platanus x acerifolia X Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea'

200 6/14/2018

45

Magnolia virginiana Magnolia virginiana

RI

100

RIDGE ROAD NEWPORT, RI

BROADLAWNS

NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION

'

34 35

Fagus sylvatica Fagus sylvatica Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea'

40'

0

SITE PLAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN

' 30

50'

DG

RO E

KEITH RESIDENCE '

PLACEstudio 20

X X X

' 40

Tree Inventory

200

vatica vatica vatica vatica 'Pendula' vatica

Broadlawns

AD

PLACEstudio COPYRIGHT 2018

Broadlawns Tree Inventory

TREE STEWARDSHIP Broadlawns is remarkable for its natural beauty, located on Narragansett Bay, and for the variety of specimen European beech trees which thrive there; Fagus sylvatica, purpurea, and asplenifolia. The current owners, Virginia and Colin Keith, took special care during their 2008 landscape renovation to preserve these mature trees and have worked to insure the next generation of trees through ongoing planting. Over the past ten years they have been and still remain active stewards in the preservation of their trees winning the Citizen Forester Award in 2013.

PA G E 3 5 | B R O A D L AW N S

PLANT LIST CODE LATIN NAME

COMMON NAME

HEIGHT

WIDTH CALIPER QTY

COMMENTS/LOCATION

TREES 1

Acer platanoides

Norway maple

65’

38”

in lawn area

2

Acer platanoides

Norway maple

75’

46”

by house

3

Acer pseudoplatanus

sycamore maple

60’

22”

in lawn area

4

Acer pseudoplatanus

sycamore maple

5

Acer rubrum

red maple

55’

18”

6

Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’

hornbeam

12’

5”

7

Catalpa bignonioides

Southern catalpa

8

Cedrus atlantica

blue atlas cedar

30’

13”

along Ridge Road

9

Chionanthus virginicus

fringe tree

3’

10

Cornus kousa ‘Constellation'

dogwood

18’

6.5”

east side of house

11

Cornus kousa ‘Samaritan’

dogwood

5'

1.5”

12

Crataegus spp.

hawthorn

18'

13

Cryptomeria japonica ‘Yoshino’

Japanese cedar

28’

9”

14

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

75’

42”

green beech alongside utility shed

15

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

70’

62”

green (east of new weeping)

16

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

80’

76”

green beech borders Sunset Ridge

17

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

80'

48”

along border with generator

18

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

85’

48"

shore road, south side

19

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

75'

55”

green shore road north side

20

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

80'

38"

entry pool house drive

21

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

11’

2.5”

green, new 2017 (Millican)

22

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

75'

55"

roadside at compost entry

23

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

18'

5"

green (Kinder)

24

Fagus sylvatica

common beech

75'

48"

green, corner of shore road

25

Fagus sylvatica ‘Aspenifolia'

fern leaf beech

75’

70”

middle beech on roadside lawn

26

Fagus sylvatica ‘Aspenifolia'

fern leaf beech

75’

70”

along Ridge Road

27

Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’

European beech

45’

24”

green weeping

28

Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendula’

purple leaf weeping European18' beech

4"

new 2016 (Millican)

29

Fagus sylvatica ‘purpurea'

copper beech

20’

8”

purple (Kinder)

30

Fagus sylvatica ‘purpurea'

copper beech

70'

54"

31

Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon'

sweetgum

9’

3"

32

Magnolia virginiana

sweet bay magnolia

10'

33

Magnolia virginiana

sweet bay magnolia

10'

34

Magnolia virginiana

sweet bay magnolia

12'

35

Malus X

crabapple

20'

8"

36

Picea abies

Norway spruce

18'

6"

2

37

Picea pungens

Colorado spruce

18'

6"

2

38

Picea pungens var. glauca

Colorado blue spruce

20'

6"

3

39

Platanus x acerifolia

London plane tree

60'

14”

40

Platanus x acerifolia

London plane tree

60'

18"

41

Populus alba

white poplar

65'

12”

between shore road and field

42

Prunus serotina

black cherry

20’

6"

along shore

43

Quercus cerris

turkey oak

65'

54"

along drive; large cavity

44

Quercus cerris

turkey oak

65'

38"

Virignia’s tree, off of front porch

45

Quercus coccinea

scarlet oak

85'

34”

in compost area

46

Quercus robur

English oak

55'

47

Tilia tomentosa 'Sterling'

silver linden

12’

72"

48

Ulmus minor x parvifolia ‘Frontier’

frontier elm

9'

1.5"

49

Ulmus propinqua ‘Emerald Sunshine’

emerald sunshine elm

7’

0.75”

50

Ulmus spp.

entry to dock ramp

east side of house along Ridge Road

3’

18’

1

along northern driveway 2

shore road, bottom

9

planted in two groups

growing in field below pool

14"

30’-50’

entry to dock ramp 4

courtyard trees; pleached north south

13

grove

SHRUBS 51

Aesculus parviflora

bottlebrush buckeye

52

Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’

boxwood

6'

48” individual accents

53

Buxus x 'Green Velvet’

boxwood

hedge, along porch

54

Buxus x ‘Green Gem’

boxwood

hedge, all parterres

55

Buxus x ‘Green Mountain’

boxwood

corner accents

56

Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'fastigiata'

Japanese plum yew

foundation corner accents

B R O A D L AW N S | PA G E 3 6