Lauded for its elegance and innovative design, Isaac Bell House is one of the best surviving examples of Shingle Style architecture in the country.
Beginning July 27, guide-led tours will allow visitors to experience this National Historic Landmark on Saturdays and Sundays through August 31 with the purchase of a special, timed ticket.
The house was built between 1881 and 1883 by the firm of McKim, Mead and White for Isaac Bell Jr., a cotton broker, investor and ambassador to the Netherlands. It was a distinctive addition to Newport’s architectural landscape, blending English Queen Anne with New England Colonial, Japanese and French/Breton design influences with features like sliding doors and a pinwheel floor plan, and a focus on natural light and ventilation. It would have a significant impact on the later domestic work of Frank Lloyd Wright.
In November of 2023, The Preservation Society of Newport County began a $3.3 million restoration and preservation of Isaac Bell House that included replacing all exterior shingles, restoring the shutters and windows, repointing the lower-level brick and chimneys and much more.
The work is now complete. To see it for yourself, visit www.newportmansions.org/mansions-and-gardens/isaac-bell-house for more information and a ticket link.
