restoring RESTMERE

A historic music festival provided clues as this Italianate villa, designed by Richard Upjohn, was brought back from the brink.

- CHERYL HACKETT

Last summer, Grammy winner Taj Mahal sat on our porch, strummed bis guitar and sang a moving rendition of "Catfish Blues." A film crew captured his performance, marking the 60th anniversary of when Skip James, Elizabeth Cotten, Sleepy John Estes, and others lived at Restmere during the Newport Folk Festival. Between takes, Newport Festivals Foundation Executive Director Jay Sweet whispered, "Can you believe this house is still standing?"

MY HUSBAND, John Grosvenor, and I asked ourselves that same question eight years ago, when we bought this ramshackle property and launched its restoration. Among the artifacts left by previous owners was a 1964 album cover with a photo of our porch.

Seeking clues in Antoinette Downing's The Architectural Heritage of Newport, Rhode Island, we saw a photo of Restmere with a curious caption: "Alexander Van Rensselaer House, 1857-1858.

Demolished after 1952." Scholars continue to document Newport County's Gilded Age inventory, yet Restmere's history remained elusive. This was troublesome: While one goal was to make the historic house compatible with modern needs, we intended to write a National Register of Historic Places nomination and qualify for Historic Tax Credits.

We needed facts, we needed anecdotes. Thus we became detectives, sleuthing at the Newport Historical Society, the Naval War College, and the New York Public Library.