Textile magnate Henry Lippitt gives his name to the Italianate mansion in front of you at 199 Hope Street on the East Side of Providence. This National Historic Landmark is one of the finest Italianate mansion houses in the state and is considered one of the best-preserved examples of Victorian-era houses in the United States. It is closely associated with Henry Lippitt (1818–91), the wealthy textile magnate who served as the 33rd Governor of Rhode Island.
The house is owned by Preserve Rhode Island and is open to the public for tours seasonally or by appointment. Look up at the large three-story brick structure resting on its brownstone foundation: the roof is largely hipped but gives way to a projecting gable at the front, while a two-story wing reaches to the rear on the east side. Notice the brownstone quoins at the corners and the belt courses between the first and second floors.
The main entry is sheltered by a semicircular porch supported by fluted and cabled Corinthian columns, and both that porch and the main roof carry elaborately decorated rooflines, echoed by the porte-cochère on the north side. Notice the columns, the belt courses, and the hipped roof above.