Buildings of New England

St. Mark’s Church in Warren, RI was architect Russell Warren’s second essay in the Greek Revival style, following Providence’s Westminster Arcade he designed earlier that year. The congregation originally met in a local hotel before they gathered enough money to purchase a lot in town and hire Mr. Warren to design the modest church.The modest one-story church originally was designed with a square parapet and belfry, but they were destroyed during the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. The church building on Lyndon Street was occupied by the parish until 2010 when they merged with the Episcopal Church in nearby Barrington, St. Matthews. The property was later purchased by developers from the Archdiocese of Rhode Island in 2013 who eyed the large lot as an investment. The developers claimed that the front portico had no function and would be demolished and the remainder of the building would be altered. Past partitioners and local preservationists stood up and the building was purchased again by a local businessman who restored the exterior and appropriately renovated the former church. The smooth flushboard siding, paired entrances, tetrastyle ionic portico, and large arched windows all work together to create a gorgeous composition of the Greek Revival style.