Historic preservation award honors carriage house restoration

Salve Regina will receive a Doris Duke Historic Preservation Award for the reclamation of the Ochre Lodge carriage house during an awards celebration Sept. 6.

Completed in 1883, the Ochre Lodge estate was originally designed by Dudley Newton for Julia Eldridge, the New York widow of a well-known dry-goods merchant. Anita O’Keeffe Young, sister of American painter George O’Keeffe, gifted the estate to the University in 1966.

In 2010, Salve Regina turned to local architect Ross Cann and his firm A4 Architecture to transform the Ochre Lodge carriage house from an unheated storage garage into a student residence accommodating 14 upperclassmen. The delicate task involved upgrading or replacing the entire infrastructure while keeping the traditional character of the building intact.

According to A4 Architecture, Cann sought to reclaim components from the original design and structure at every design turn, “not only so that the amount of material shipped to the landfill was less, but also so that the building could begin life with material patinated by time and use to create an environment which felt solid and old.”

“Our students who lived in the carriage house this past academic year really loved living there, and those students scheduled to live there next year can’t wait,” said Dr. Gerry Willis, director of campus life. “This wonderfully renovated carriage house adds a great deal to the diverse and unique character of so many other of our residence halls on campus, all of which we are so proud of.”

A joint project of the Newport Restoration Foundation and the city of Newport, the Doris Duke Historic Preservation Awards celebrate achievements in local historic preservation. Award winners were chosen by representatives from the foundation and the city as well as individuals involved in historic preservation at the local and state levels.