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A visit to Newport, Rhode Island, is incomplete without a tour of Bellevue Avenue’s famous homes. Though their original owners (Vanderbilts, Astors, Morgans) dubbed them “country cottages,” they stand as imposingly as any mansion on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue. We’d even go as far as to argue that these homes—properties like Marble House, The Elms, and The Breakers—are the coastal New England town’s main draw. But there are also the ones you can’t tour, the privately-owned mansions that you need an invitation to step inside. The alternative? You can check into Newport’s newest hotel Gardiner House.
Opened late last year, Gardiner House is a 21-room property located on Lees Wharf, directly next to the International Yacht Restoration School. The hotel’s proprietors, Wirt Blaffer and Howard Cushing, have a deep connection to the town—especially Cushing, whose 1860s family home, The Ledges, inspired much of the interior design of Gardiner House. (The original white Stick-style Victorian house of The Ledges was built by Cushing’s great-grandfather, the artist Howard Gardiner Cushing, and has sat on a cliff perch overlooking the town’s member’s club, Bailey’s Beach, for 150 years.)
This elder Cushing, a celebrated painter whose works can be admired at the Newport Art Museum, painted the entryway of The Ledges with a powdery mural in rose quartz-pink and turquoise blue, featuring butterflies mid-flight and peacocks on the branches with viney weeping willow trees. A wallpaper of the very same mural, digitally reproduced by twenty2 Wallpaper + Textiles, now greets guests of Gardiner House hotel in a loving nod to the Cushing family home. As guests walk up a winding staircase alongside the mural, they’ll notice unfinished traces of flora and fauna, as well as cracks in the artwork. Howard Gardiner Cushing passed before he could finish it, and the charming patina of the 100-plus-year-old mural is reflected in its recreation—a thoughtful design choice that winks to Newport’s rich design legacy.
“I love the immediate reaction people have when they walk into [Gardiner House],” says Cushing. “It’s like, ‘Okay, this is different, and I’m going to have so much fun here.’” Of paying homage to his great grandfather’s artwork, he says, “It wasn’t something I thought about recreating, but given the opportunity with Gardiner House—the idea of recreating the mural there was such an obvious yes.”
Traces of “Old Newport” abound as you tour the property. Take a conversation-starting pair of wicker peacock chairs picked up from a sale at the 1904 home Clarendon Court, or the second-floor Sun Room, arranged like a Gilded Age indoor-outdoor space with clusters of seating and palm fronds.
Located in a former shipyard just off bustling Thames Street—which leads you to Newport culinary institutions like The Black Pearl and Clarke Cook House—Gardiner House is also uniquely positioned right on the wharf, offering views of the Newport Harbor and Fort Adams State Park. And what the hotel might lack in curbside appeal, it more than makes up for in views, which have been wisely designated to the hotel’s public spaces for maximum impact.
No two guest rooms are quite alike, yet what unites them is their bright and cheery textiles—think wobbly stripes or block-printed floral motifs—and their year-round sunny feel, courtesy of sisal rugs, wicker seating, and burled wood accent furniture. As for the activities on offer? Cushing has high hopes his family’s Lobster boat—which one welcomed JFK for a fishing excursion—will be rehabilitated and can tour around hotel guests. In the meantime, the hotel has partnered with local charter companies should hotel-goers be interested in a sunset cruise. (Gardiner House also offers a beach picnic experience—parasols and all—and provides bicycles for roving the town.)
The aforementioned Sun Room, meanwhile, offers guests a cozy spot to take their continental breakfasts with a view of the harbor. The buzzy Studio Bar welcomes guests and locales (there are “liquor lockers” for frequent patrons) alike a spot to enjoy a cocktail by the fire. And later this summer, a restaurant on the top floor of the three-floor hotel will open, serving coastal Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant will be one of the few Newport spots with a view—most of those belong to private houses, as Cushing and Blaffer are very well aware.
“Gardiner House has a spirit and feel that is familiar to Newporters, but hasn’t existed in a hospitality concept in Newport. Walking into the hotel is like walking into a house on the water full of art and unexpected design, and views that transport you into another world,” says Cushing, “But now, this scene exists in a hotel.”
Booking details for Gardiner House:
Amenities: Complimentary breakfast, free parking, restaurant, bar
Address: 24 Lees Wharf, Newport, RI, 02840
