Built for Samuel Whitehorne Jr. in 1811, the Federal-style Whitehorne House at 416 Thames Street in Newport is open to the public as a historic house museum. From this spot you can appreciate the elegant brick construction, the low hipped roof and the decorative entry portico that mark the Federal style. This house is notable because it is one of the rare Federal-style houses built in Newport; the period after the Revolutionary War was a time of slow economic recovery for the city, so homes like this were uncommon.
Step mentally inside and you’ll find a grand central hallway and finely hand-carved interior details. The house also houses a significant collection of early American furniture provided by Doris Duke, with interior work that includes examples by the artisans Goddard and Townsend, Benjamin Baker, and Holmes Weaver. Today the property is owned by the Newport Restoration Foundation, and the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
You can study how its formal garden frames the facade, the brick face, the hipped roof, and the decorative portico all facing you.