March 11, 2013 – Preservation in Pink

An abandoned (neglected) and deteriorated carriage barn – referred to as “The Bells” by locals – found at Brenton Point State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. A brief history of the property, from the Rhode Island State Parks:

…a fine house, known as ‘The Reef’ was built in 1885 for Theodore M. Davis by the Boston architectural firm of Sturgis and Brigham. An elegant shingle and stone-clad Queen Anne villa was erected to house Davis’s collection of paintings and Egyptian artifacts, collected during his wanderings between 1903 and 1912. Under official license by the Egyptian government, Davis directed expeditions that uncovered nearly a half dozen major tombs, establishing important holdings for Egypt. The Reef was also famous for its walled gardens and green houses. The entire estate took up some eighteen acres.

After Mr. Davis’ death in 1915 the estate went into the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Budlong of Providence. The property suffered in the ’38 Hurricane, but the members of the Budlong family used it until 1941. During World War II, the site’s position as one of the gateways to Narragansett Bay made it an ideal location for a coastal artillery battery. Footings for these guns can be seen today. Returned to the Budlongs in 1946 the house and grounds remained unoccupied. The house continued deterioration in the 1950s, and a fire destroyed the villa in 1960. Two years later it was demolished. Surviving on the site are a bungalow and carriage house. In 1969 the site came under the control of the State of Rhode Island as an ‘open space’ property in the Green Acres Program. In 1976 it became a state park.

It was a cloudy New England winter day, but still good enough for photographs.