Another Newport, Rhode Island beauty!

Here’s the history according to its information sign: “Robert Lawton, a merchant and sea captain, built this house in 1809. With its elegant simplicity, square floor plan and abundance of large windows, it is one of the finer examples of Federal architecture in Newport, Rhode Island.

In 1818, Lawton died at sea off the coast of Africa and left the house to his wife, Penelope. Italianate details were added to the building around 1850, including the awning-like roof over the portico. It was probably during this period that the house was painted for the first time.

The house passed through many owners, including the Paul family of Philadelphia, which owned it between 1886 and 1932. It was purchased that year by Mr. and Mrs. George Henry Warren Jr. Mrs. Warren, the former Katherine Urquhart, was one of the founders of the Preservation Society of Newport County.

From 1977 to 1994, the Preservation Society had its offices in the building. In 1994, the society moved to the newly restored Herbert Pell House, 424 Bellevue Ave.

The Warren house was then purchased by a private individual, meticulously restored and renamed in honor of the Warren family. It won the Newport Historical Society’s Historic Preservation award in 1996.