Verbena (Newport, Rhode Island)

 house, cottage, shingle style (architecture)

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Verbena, the Richard Gudoian, Jr, House (1999; Steve Laurin, designer/builder):

Built into the steep southern slope of the hill north of Ocean Avenue, this is a large, sprawling, splayed-V-plan, 4-level, cross-gable-roof Neo-Shingle Style with stone-veneer foundation and 1st story, asymmetrical massing and fenestration, extensive porches along the southern elevation, and 3 prominent random-course stone chimneys, 1 emerging from the mass of the main block on its south elevation, 1 one the ridgeline near the building’s center, and 1 on the service wing. A secondary drive from Ocean Heights Road to the north provides access to the service wing and the garages located within the building’s mass.

Gudoian was an importer and vendor of imported automobiles, with businesses both in Warwick, RI and on Aquidneck Island. While this complex does not contribute to the significance of the district because it falls outside the period of significance, it nevertheless is consistent in type, form, scale, and setting with those properties that create the district’s significance.