Isaac Bell House — Attraction in Newport

The Isaac Bell House is a historic house and National Historic Landmark at 70 Perry Street (at its corner with Bellevue Avenue) in Newport, Rhode Island. Also known as Edna Villa, it is one of the outstanding examples of Shingle Style architecture in the United States. It was designed by McKim, Mead, and White, and built during the Gilded Age, when Newport was the summer resort of choice for America's wealthiest families.

Isaac Bell Jr. was a successful cotton broker and investor, and the brother-in-law of James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher of the New York Herald. Bell hired the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White (Charles Follen McKim, William R. Mead, and Stanford White) to design his summer cottage. Known in Newport for designing Newport Casino, and later in Boston for designing Boston Public Library, they also designed the famous Pennsylvania Station in New York. Construction took place between 1881 and 1883.

The Shingle Style was pioneered by Henry Hobson Richardson in his design for the William Watts Sherman House, also in Newport. This style of Victorian architecture was popular in the late nineteenth century and named after the extensive use of wooden shingles on the exterior. The Isaac Bell House exemplifies the style through its unpainted wood shingles, simple window & trim details, and multiple porches. It combines elements of the English Arts and Crafts movement philosophy, colonial American detailing, and features a Japanese-inspired open floor plan and bamboo-style porch columns. Interior features include inglenook fireplaces, natural rattan wall coverings, wall paneling and narrow-band wooden floors.

The building's history includes being split up into apartments and serving as a nursing home. With the help of Carol Chiles Ballard, the house was bought in 1994 by the Preservation Society of Newport County, which won awards for its restoration, and which now operates it as a house museum.The Isaac Bell House was declared a National Historic...

The Isaac Bell House is an extraordinary historic house and a major place of interest in Newport Rhode Island.

In September of 2018, I brought and treated my wife and myself for a guided tour of the Isaac Bell House when celebrating our honeymoon in Newport, Rhode Island!!!

Designed by the renowned architectural firm, Mckim Mead & White during America’s Gilded Age, the house served as a summer residence for Isaac Bell Jr, a successful cotton broker & investor.

Today, the Isaac Bell House is a historic house museum, offering guided tours to the public, and due to its rich heritage and well designed architectural features, has been listed on the National Register Of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.

During our guided tour, my wife and I learned much about the history of the Isaac Bell House and were very impressed with the use of the Shingle Style Architecture on its exterior. We also liked the wall-paneling and wooden floor which is featured in the house’s interior.

The Isaac Bell House is an outstanding architectural & historic landmark, and my wife and I very much enjoyed our guided tour...

The Isaac Bell House is now open for about one month. If you are a Newport Mansions member, you may have to book your free tickets through the member portal. I have been a member for years, and the changes after COVID include restrictive dates and rules to see certain houses. Prior to 2020, visitors didn't have to book a tour for the Isaac Bell House -- they could just show up. Now, the process is cumbersome. I have a member plus individual membership. We got the tour, but were told we couldn't use the bathroom until every single person from the previous tour left the house, and that specific tour had started late because there were late people. Lovely house with minimal furnishings. The tour highlights the architecture and the wood paneling. Can you look at the second and fifth pictures and tell me there is no bulge in the roof? I was told there is no bulge, that there is...