Buildings of New England

This diminutive commercial building on Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island stands out as one of the state’s best examples of a historic Victorian-era wooden commercial building, and its preservation is notable. The late-Italianate style wooden block dates to 1883, and exhibits its original wooden storefronts, second floor round arched windows with stained glass, and ornate detailing including the brackets, parapet and period-appropriate paint colors which allow those details to pop. The shop was owned in its early days by the John C. Hall, a carpenter who built the house next door. The building was used as an antique shop on the ground floor with a studio for author and illustrator, David Macaulay on the second floor. These types of smaller-scale commercial spaces are some last remaining (relatively) affordable spaces for small businesses to operate, and they add so much intrigue to the streetscape, especially compared to suburban cookie-cutter banks and stores.