Martha G. Pitman House   -   circa 1743

The Pitman House is one of the houses acquired by NRF from the Foundation for the Preservation of America's Architectural Heritage. The house is a two story, gable-roofed building with a central chimney.

The Foundation for the Preservation of America's Architectural Heritage (FPAAH) sought, in particular, to save houses that were slated for demolition in order to make way for a housing development for the elderly in the area of Farewell, Coddington, Charles, and North Baptist Streets.  FPAAH purchased various plots of land in the Point section of Newport, constructed cellar foundations, and the houses, mostly stripped of their interiors, were moved to the new locations.  When momentum stalled within the organization, the buildings were offered to NRF.

The buildings purchased from FPAAH had very little original fabric either interior or exterior.  Little in the way of history existed on these buildings, and what FPAAH had done to the buildings was, unfortunately, not well documented.

To some extent, NRF purchased buildings from FPAAH and then restored and/or rebuilt them not because of important existing structure and fabric but rather to stabilize a neighborhood at a time when there was considerable need in Newport for this action.

What history there is on the Pitman House comes from Antoinette Downing (co-author with Vincent J. Scully, Jr. of The Architectural History of Newport, Rhode Island, Harvard University Press, 1952.). Downing relates that there was a two story building, set back from Farewell Street, on land Richard Clarke gave to his daughter Martha Pitman in 1743.  Pitman in turn gave the property to the Second Congregational Church in 1765.

The Stiles map of Newport of 1758 shows a shop or stable at this location.  It is thought a house may have been made from the shop or barn that existed first on the property.  When one looks at the house, it does not have the normal proportions of a typical Newport house, which gives some credence to the speculation that the building was not originally constructed as a dwelling.  Most of the current interior detailing came from the NRF inventory.

The Pitman House was moved by FPAAH from its original location at 28 Farewell Street to the Bridge Street location in 1967.  The house was then purchased by NRF in 1968 and restored in 1972.  The Newport Restoration Foundation sold the Pitman House in 2003.