Salve Regina University

Although Salve Regina College had received a charter from the State of Rhode Island in 1934, the school had no facility in which to operate until 1947. In that year, Robert Goelet donated the family’s summer home, Ochre Court, to the Sisters of Mercy, and the college opened its doors to welcome the first group of students.

Located next to the Cliff Walk on Ochre Point, Salve Regina’s campus has grown to encompass several historic estates and commands a desirable position in Newport. The campus spans 75 acres and more than two dozen structures, including many architecturally significant buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries that have been sensitively adapted to meet the university’s needs. Several other facilities were constructed to serve the needs of a modern university while blending with the architectural environment. The grounds are also significant, featuring rare imported trees and designs by some of the country’s foremost landscape architects.

The university continues to act as a steward of this heritage and is actively engaged in preserving the splendor of its Gilded Age properties, while also adapting them for educational use. 1 In 1999, the National Trust for Historic Preservation presented Salve Regina with a National Preservation Honor Award for ongoing education programs and campus restoration.

1 Salve Regina University. "Campus Heritage." Last updated March 2007. Accessed 14 December 2007 www.salve.edu/heritage/index.cfm.

For additional information about individual buildings and the campus overall, please see the brochure "A Walking Tour of Salve Regina University: From Gilded Age Estates to Inspired Education." A copy is located in Folder 1 of the first box in the RG 19 manuscript collection.

Notes on individual buildings

Owned buildings

Angelus Hall – Originally designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a carriage house and servants' quarters on Vinland estate, this red sandstone Romanesque Revival-style structure features a central overhang in the form of a haylift characteristic of European rustic architecture. This structure was expanded during further construction on Vinland estate between 1907 and 1910.

Boathouse – Originally built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a potting shed on Vinland estate, this modest rectangular building of red brick has served a number of institutional functions over the years, notably as a snack bar and college pub.

Founders Hall / Althorpe – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1889 and 1890 as a residence on Althorpe estate, this Colonial Revival-style structure features a wraparound porch, hipped roof with pedimented dormer windows, turrets, and cornices with dentils.

Gatehouse – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1882 and 1883 for service as a gatehouse on Vinland estate, this red sandstone Romanesque Revival-style structure features turrets, gables, and a wrought-iron lantern.

Hunt Hall and Reefe Hall – Designed by Robinson Green Beretta in 1982 and constructed between 1984 and 1985 for service as a university dormitory, these postmodern structures feature a shingle and clapboard exterior accented with red brick, and roofline gables suggestive of the Queen Anne Revival style.

Marian Hall – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built in 1910 for service as a caretaker’s residence on Vinland estate, this Colonial Revival-style cottage features a clapboard exterior, gambrel roof, and an open veranda.

McAuley Hall / Vinland – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and constructed between 1882 and 1883 as the principle residence on Vinland estate, this red sandstone structure features heavy rustication and rounded arches characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style. Inspired by Longfellow’s poem about Vikings, "The Skeleton in Armor," exterior architectural elements feature carved belt courses and window casings with motifs drawn from old Celtic manuscripts. Interior architectural elements reflect the stylistic influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. A mural frieze created by painter Walter Crane has since been removed and sold (1987). Landscape architect Ernest Bowditch designed the grounds. The house was enlarged considerably between 1907 and 1910, with new interiors appointed by Ogden Codman.

McKillop Library – Designed by Robinson Green Beretta and constructed on part of Wakehurst grounds between 1989 and 1991, this postmodern structure features a pale gray granite exterior with Gothic lines reminiscent of nearby Gilded Age mansions. Decorative elements include gabled peaks with finials, mullioned windows, and a lead-coated copper roof.

Mercy Hall / Ochre Court Carriage House – Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built in 1889 for service as a carriage house for Ochre Court estate, this Queen Anne-style structure features a tower, and a red brick and painted wood trim exterior evocative of an 18th-century continental stable.

Miley Hall / Whiteholme – Designed by Maginnis, Walsh, and Kennedy and constructed between 1963 and 1964 on what was formerly the site of the Whiteholme estate (a Neo-Baroque-style structure designed by John Russell Pope which was built between 1903 and 1904, and demolished in May, 1963), this International Modern-style structure features a functional exterior of brick and steel characteristic of postwar architecture.

Moore Hall / Madame A. C. Acosta House Moore Hall/Madame A. C. Acosta House – Designed by John Dixon Johnston and built between 1881 and 1882 as a residence for Madame A. C. Acosta of Maryland, the exterior of this eclectic Queen Anne-style structure features a wraparound veranda, classical columns and shingled surfaces combining 17th and 18th century design elements.

Munroe Center / Wakehurst Stables – Designed by Dudley Newton and constructed between 1888 and 1889 for service as a stable on Wakehurst estate, the exterior of this rusticated granite structure features Gothic lines characteristic of the English Manor style. Additional renovations were undertaken between 1986 and 1987.

North Hall and South Hall – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and constructed between 1884 and 1885 for service as a henkeeper’s residence and a hennery for Vinland estate, these Shingle-style cottages are joined by a large wooden central archway on which a coop-like structure sits atop a spire.

Ochre Court – Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built between 1888 and 1891 as a summer residence for the family of Ogden Goelet, this French Flamboyant-Gothic structure features a limestone exterior with high roofs, turrets, whimsical gargoyles, and tall chimneys. Other decorative elements reflect an emergent transition from sharp, heavy Gothic lines to softer, lighter Renaissance details as seen in rounded arches and lacy ornamentation. The interior of this 50-room mansion features a Great Hall that soars upward for three stories, off of which ground-floor reception rooms radiate. The grand staircase showcases a 15th century medieval stained glass window from the Spitzer Collection in Germany. Numerous rooms have been appointed with imported antique fireplaces and lavish wallcoverings. The Goelets' social position and patronage of the arts and learning is evident throughout the property in spirited details, including classical ceiling paintings, royal heraldic devices, carved emblems and statues, and colorful antique stained glass.

Ochre Lodge and Ochre Lodge Annex – Designed by Dudley Newton, a premiere local architect of the time, for Julia B. Eldridge, and built between 1882 and 1883, this structure incorporates characteristics of both the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Featured are a decorative mix of facing materials – granite and bluestone on the lower story and rustic wood shingles on the upper stories, as well as playful structural elements including balconies, alcoves, and verandas.

O'Hare Academic Center – Designed by E. James Kurtz and Associates and constructed between 1964 and 1967, this International Modern-style structure features a geometric functionalism characteristic of postwar architecture. The exterior incorporates plate glass, industrial block, and stainless steel elements into a grid-like pattern suggestive of Bauhaus design. The interior space integrates a series of three rectangles with a central hall. Featured is a circular cantilevered staircase. Installed outdoors adjacent to the east terrace is a bronze and stone sculptural work, "The Vision of Pythagoras," by former faculty member William P. Haas.

Rodgers Recreation Center – Designed by Robert A. M. Stern architects and built by Robinson Green Beretta between 1999 and 2000 for service as a recreation and athletic facility, this structure features a shingle-style exterior with painted wood-framed windows, gables, and cupola, as well as a series of verandas with flaring roofs. An innovative interior plan places one of two building levels below ground.

Tobin Hall – Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built between 1884 and 1885 for service as a gardener's residence on Vinland estate, this Colonial Revival-style structure features a shingled exterior, gambrel roof, and open veranda.

Wakehurst – Designed by English architect and stained glass artist, Charles Eamer Kempe in 1882, and built by local architect, Dudley Newton between 1884 and 1887 for the Van Alen family, this English Manor-style structure replicates Wakehurst Place, a 16th century Elizabethan manor house in rural Sussex, England. Exterior elements include dramatic rooflines and pitch, copper and lead detailing, and large slate tiles, as well as diamond-paned bay windows. Several interior spaces – the English Jacobean long hall, the Dutch Renaissance den, and the Bruges dining room, designed by Robert Adam – were created and built in England and installed in Newport. An auxiliary building originally built in 1910 for service as a gardener's cottage, and which more recently served as the athletics office, was demolished in 2000 to open up the site for the construction of Rodgers Recreation Center.

Wallace Hall – Designed by Frank Furness, of Furness and Hewitt, and built between 1874 and 1875 for service as a carriage house for Fairholme manor, this Tudor Revival-style structure features a stucco and stick-style wooden-beamed exterior and enormous arched openings that once provided access for large horse-drawn carriages.

Watts Sherman House – Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and built between 1874 and 1875 for William Watts Sherman and his first wife, Annie Wetmore, this shingle and stucco-faced structure incorporates Medieval European, Renaissance English, and Colonial American elements into an architectural form that has been widely regarded as a prototype for the Shingle Style in American architecture. Exterior features include the use of rusticated stone on the lower story and weathered shingles on the upper stories, massive chimneys, and a unifying broad gable. Interior spaces follow an innovative arrangement characterized by an English living hall and a fluid plan of functional open spaces. Original treatments in the Jacobean Revival style remain in all but three spaces, which were redecorated by Sanford White. A utilitarian extension was added in 1969 when the residence served as the Baptist Home of Rhode Island.

Wetmore / Chateau-sur-Mer Stables – Originally designed by Seth Bradford as a carriage house for the Chateau-sur-Mer estate, this brick structure was significantly enlarged by George Champlin Mason & Son between 1882 and 1883. The building was renovated substantially in 2007.

Young Building / Fairlawn – Originally designed by Seth Bradford and built between 1852 and 1853 as the residence on Fairlawn estate, this three-story brick and wood-frame structure was subsequently expanded over the next thirty years by Richard Morris Hunt, McKim Mead and White, and Peabody and Stearns. Featured are a decorative roofing pattern, porticos, a veranda, and wrought-iron gate.

Leased buildings

Carey Mansion / Seaview Terrace – Designed by Howard Greenley in 1924 and built between 1927 and 1929 as a sprawling residence for the Bradley family on Seaview Terrace estate, this French Renaissance manor house incorporated the Elizabethan-style structure known as Seaview (originally built circa 1870 by George Champlin Mason and remodeled in between 1887 and 1888 by John Dixon Johnston) into its form. Exterior features include turrets, stained glass windows, high, arching doorways, and shell motifs adorning the façade. An auxiliary structure of rusticated stone and wood shingles likely served as a carriage house on Seaview Terrace estate.

Pell School – Built in 1888 as a summer residence for William H. Osgood of New York, this Romanesque Revival-style structure was leased by the university to house the nursing school between 1981 and 1991.

Narragansett Hall – This Colonial Revival-style structure features a front porch, pedimented dormer windows, upper porticos, and modillions.

Sold buildings

Conley Hall / Faxon Lodge – Designed by Sanford White and constructed by Frank K. Sturgis in 1900, this English Tudor-style structure is noted for its symmetry and design. This property was initially purchased by the university in 1969, sold in 1986, and subsequently leased for continued use as a dormitory between 1988 and 1991.

Queen Hall / Belmead estate – This property was purchased by the university in 1959 and sold in 1972.

St. Joseph's Hall / Elisha Dyer estate – This Colonial Revival-style brick structure features elegant neoclassical elements, including a prominent entry portico, quoins, keystone lintels, modillions and dentils. This property was purchased by the university in 1962 and sold in 1972.

Timeline of acquisition or new construction

• 1947: Ochre Court
• 1948: Mercy Hall
• 1950: Moore Hall
• 1955: McAuley Hall, Angelus Hall, Boathouse, Gatehouse, Marian Hall
• 1962: North and South Halls
• 1964: Founders Hall, Miley Hall
• 1966: Ochre Lodge, Ochre Lodge Annex
• 1967: O'Hare Academic Center
• 1969: Tobin Hall
• 1970: Wetmore
• 1972: Wakehurst, Monroe Center
• 1982: William Watts Sherman House
• 1986: Hunt Hall and Reefe Hall
• 1991: McKillop Library, Wallace Hall
• 1997: Young Building
• 2000: Rodgers Recreation Center
• 2002: 61 Shepard Avenue
• 2007: 87 Victoria Avenue

From the guide to the Photographs of university properties, (Salve Regina University) Photographs of university properties, 1947-2001, (bulk 1965-1999), (Salve Regina University Archives)