Near Sea (1937) (Newport, Rhode Island)

 house, place with historical importance, cottage, mansion / manor house / villa

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Near Sea, the Katheryne Yoakum Fosdick House (1937; Ballantyne & Olson (New York), architects):

A stuccoed, 11⁄2-story, H-plan house with 2-story south and north wings rising higher than the large central section that connects them, segmental-arch-pediment principal entrance flanked by multiple-pane oculus windows centered on the west elevation of the south wing, French doors in the central section, casement windows in the north and south wings, high slate hip roof with segmental-arch dormers and prominent chimneys centered on the central section’s ridgeline at its intersection with the north and south wings, and a 11⁄2-story service ell and garage on the south elevation of the south wing.23 A landscaped terrace extends east toward the water from the paved terrace on its east elevation.

Mrs Fosdick had lived at Seabeach, 181 Ocean Avenue (q.v.) before building this house. Clearly inspired by vernacular stuccoed Norman farmhouses and minor châteaux, its spatial organization follows a format found in several informal country houses of the 3rd and 4th decades of the 20th century: a large living hall in the lower-roof crossbar at the building’s center, family bedrooms in the north wing, and service areas in the south wing; this house features a small hallway that connects the 2 2-story sections above the living hall, unlike other exemplars.24 (C.f. Cherry Creek Bungalow, now Normandie, 240 Ocean Avenue, and Indian Spring, 325 Ocean Avenue) (2 contributing elements: 1 building, 1 site)