Excursion to Blithewold

I was longing to go on an outing, and at this time of year it would have to be to the water. Usually I go north, but last Saturday I decided to go south instead, to Bristol, Rhode Island and Blithewold, a beautiful summer house on Narragansett Bay. I had visited years ago and remembered liking the house very much. It was an easy drive from Boston, just over an hour, which included crossing two bridges in Rhode Island, one of them the long and lovely Mount Hope Bridge.

from upper left: the view from the sleeping porch off the master bedroom, the view from the terrace, fish pond in the garden, waterfront looking north toward the town of Bristol, waterfront looking south, steps leading from the North Porch to the garden

Blithewold was built in 1908, to replace the Van Wickle family’s 1896 house, which burned down. It is considered to be one of the most authentic and intact examples of the Country Place Era in the U.S.  It was a time when wealthy Americans, who had not inherited country manors, built their own.  The architects, Kilham and Hopkins of Boston, were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in England.