GPS City GuideNewportClarke Cooke House

Stop 14 of 36 · Newport audio walking tour

Clarke Cooke House

Bannister's Wharf · 1780 · Colonial sea captain's house

What you'll hear here: about a minute on Clarke Cooke House — how it came to be, who it mattered to, and what to look for while you're standing in front of it.

Clarke Cooke House, also known as Clark Cooke House or Clark Cook House, is the historic colonial house and restaurant on Bannister's Wharf at 285 Thames Street in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1780 Clarke Cooke, a wealthy Newport sea captain, built the house nearby on Thames Street, opposite what is now the Blues Cafe, and later moved away from Thames Street as it commercialized. In the 1970s David W. Ray purchased the building and in 1973 moved it, over a six-month period, to this spot on Bannister's Wharf.

The second and third floors of the building are original; the first floor had been used for various commercial purposes. Those top floors were jacked up, moved, and set on a new foundation, and that foundation is now the wharf-level dining area. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 but was removed in 1973 after its relocation.

Feel the layered history here, a colonial captain's home repurposed, lifted, and set anew. Picture Bannister's Wharf and the wharf-level dining area spread before you.

Where it is

Coordinates
41.48617, -71.31587
Area
Bannister's Wharf
Era
1780 · Colonial sea captain's house
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.