South Flank from the Southwest
William Watts Sherman House in Newport, Rhode Island

Henry Hobson Richardson was the architect of this magnificent home, designed and built from 1874 to 1876.  With this house, Richardson established what architectural historian Vincent Scully would come to call the "Shingle Style" in the 1950s.  True to its name, the style's chief characteristic is a shingle clad exterior, wrapping continuously around the structure like a tight fitting dress.  It features picturesquely asymmetrical forms and massing that the architect arranges to convey an overall sense of calm, casual charm, and solid construction.  The style also features more spacious and open interiors than its Victorian counterparts, something inspired from Japanese architecture and the great halls of English country estates.  It has been a source of inspiration and reinterpretation for many modern architects.  The house itself now serves Salve Regina University as a student residence and educational conference facility.  Photo credited to Cerwin Robinson, July 1970.  From the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS, RI, 3-NEWP, 68-3.

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