Virtual Tour of Hunter House in Newport, RI

A rare surviving waterfront home from Newport’s colonial era, Hunter House was the first property rescued by The Preservation Society of Newport County in 1945. After a 75-year -long run of celebrating Newport’s 18th-century artisan community, the Preservation Society recently debuted a new tour of this iconic Rhode Island house museum. Supported in part by a Dean F. Failey Grant from the Decorative Arts Trust, the updated visitor experience provides an important model of reinterpreting a space and objects to include residents and narratives that had been overlooked in the past. For the Trust’s virtual tour, Preservation Society Director of Museum Affairs and Chief Curator Leslie Jones introduces Research Fellow MaryKate Smolenski, who was integral to the research, planning, and script-writing of this new tour. MaryKate guides us on a fascinating journey through the experiences of the house's owners and the enslaved people who worked there. Exquisite objects, including Goddard and Townsend furniture and Gilbert Stuart paintings, grace the rooms, all with stories relating to the house's residents and Newport's history.
The mission of the Decorative Arts Trust, a non-profit organization, is to promote and foster the appreciation and study of the decorative arts.
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[@pgadeb]

Thank you for sharing this beautifully preserved colonial for us...well done!

[@stephenburns3678]

Thank you for a very informative tour.

[@FW190D]

Beautiful home and representation of colonial American artistry.

[@beverlygudanowski2751]

Have never heard in any museum house in Rhode island that mahogany came from Africa. All interpretations state that the wood came from the west indies or central Americas.🧐

[@TheDecorativeArtsTrust]

You are correct--the presenter misspoke in this instance. We confirmed that the wood is indeed from the Caribbean/Central America, and they used enslaved African individuals for the labor.