Spaces: Focal Points
Learn the latest from Rhode Island's home and style scene.
Photo courtesy of WBNA
West Side Stories
After a seven-year hiatus, the West Broadway Neighborhood Association’s House Tour is back and promises a peek inside some of the most intriguing homes in Providence’s West End.
The self-guided tour will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, and features ten private residences around the Sycamore Street area. This year’s theme, aptly enough, is “Behind Closed Doors.”
“We’re really excited about the houses this year — there’s a wide variety,” says Joe Roch, a WBNA board member. “We have new construction, some very old houses and some have really creative ADUs that have been built.”
The tour starts at WBNA’s headquarters at 1560 Westminster St., where attendees can pick up a map and visit the properties from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. The map also highlights local eateries and shops so visitors can make a day out of it. The event also coincides with PVDFest, so guests can hop downtown afterward.
The West End is a rich repository of Greek Revival, Queen Anne and Second Empire homes built in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, many of which have been lovingly restored to their full Victorian glory.
An opening night party will be held Sept. 18 at The Alcove, a newly renovated community space for women and gender expansive people, at 189 Broadway. House tour tickets are $25; $15 for seniors and students. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit wbna.org.
______________________________________________
Photo courtesy of Hotel Viking
Viking Revamp
The Hotel Viking has reopened after an extensive redesign, just in time for its 100th anniversary. The hotel’s 210 rooms and public spaces have been completely refreshed, along with a new culinary program led by restaurateurs chef Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg.
Newport’s founding families first built the hotel in 1926, eager to entertain visitors hungry for a glimpse of the city’s Gilded Age glamour. During the redesign, L.A.-based Beleco honored that legacy, refurbishing the original room key holder and mailbox in the lobby, and using tailored stripes, custom wallcoverings and Persian-inspired rugs that pull from past logos and designs.
Guest rooms are serene and uncluttered, done in modern neutrals and classic materials like leather, wool, linen and canvas. And a brick courtyard space has been reborn, ready to host cocktail parties and drinks under the stars.
If the hotel is classic Newport elegance, the newly imagined dining spaces are where you’ll find the after-party. Pescadou radiates hues of pastel pink and chartreuse, with old-money parquet floors and murals that bring the outdoors inside, while the Skoal Room is done in rich leathers and ambers, a dark and beguiling space. Don’t forget to head upstairs to the Cap Club if you visit: It has one of the best views in the city, comfy seating and all the tropical drinks you can shake a swizzle stick at — think banana daiquiris, Key lime Montegos and Champagne coladas. hotelviking.com
______________________________________________
Photo courtesy of Rue Sakayama
Design Week RI 2026
Save the Date for Design Week RI, DESIGNxRI’s annual celebration of creativity and innovation.
This year’s fest is being expanded into a season-wide event, with workshops and events held Sept. 10–18, and an Open Studio Weekend taking place Nov. 6–8. Planned September sessions include Finding Your Way: Reconceiving Wayfinding at the RISD Museum, Architectural Model Making: Lost and Future Art with Kite Architects, and Designing Spaces to Gather: The Irreplaceable Role of Live Arts in the Age of AI with The United in Westerly.
For more information and a detailed schedule of events, head to designxri.com.
