Providence Real Estate

Tilden-Thurber Building // 1895

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The ornately ornamented Tilden-Thurber Building sits on Westminster Street in Downtown Providence, and served as somewhat of a jewel box for its original owners, the Tilden-Thurber Company. Tilden-Thurber was a prominent 19th- and 20th-century luxury goods retailer, jeweler, and silversmith, founded in 1856 by Henry Tilden and William Thurber, retailing fine timepieces, custom silverware, decorative art, and commemorative items. The company had its main store at the corner of Westminster and Mathewson streets built in 1895 from plans by the Boston architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, which resulted in this immaculate, four-story masonry block. Classically inspired, the design features large plate glass storefronts framed by an intricate carved stone surround at the street level and on the upper floors, colossal engaged and rusticated columns. The Tilden-Thurber Company filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and the future of this landmark was uncertain for years until the building sold in 2016 to former mayor and longtime developer Joseph Paolino.

Turk’s Head Building // 1913

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An iconic building in Downtown Providence, the aptly named Turk’s Head Building, stands at a prominent site at the intersection of Weybosset and Westminster streets. The flatiron building was built in 1913 by the Brown family as an investment property, replacing a series of small early 19th century commercial buildings on the site. One of the original buildings on the site was owned by shopkeeper, Jacob Whitman, who mounted a ship’s figurehead above his store depicting the head of an Ottoman warrior. His store was called, “At the sign of the Turk’s Head.” When the Brown family redeveloped the site, they worked with the New York architectural firm of Howells & Stokes, who designed the new skyscraper of white brick with stone trim and a massive Turk’s head at the center of the curved facade, reminiscent of the site’s history and original figurehead metaphorically on the new building’s “prow”. The building has served as an important visual landmark to those entering Downtown from the East Side/College Hill area.

Providence Gas Company Building // 1924

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One of the unsung architectural landmarks in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, can be found on Weybosset Street. The Providence Gas Company Building at 100 Weybosset Street was built in 1924 as the headquarters and offices for the Providence Gas Company, which provided services to a rapidly growing New England city. The architects, Clarke & Howe, used local precedence in their design, modeling the building as a commercial version of the 1774 Joseph Brown House on South Main Street, with its iconic ogee gable at the roof. Beyond its own ogee gable, the Gas Company building retains its columned entry and symmetrical facades. The building was converted into housing with a pub and rooftop restaurant.

Case-Mead Building // 1859

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Originally built in 1859 as a four-story building, this commercial block on Dorrance Street in Downtown Providence was updated in the early 20th century in its present appearance. The Case-Mead Building is brick construction and was designed in the Italianate style, notable for its round arched windows. When built, the present third and fourth stories were a double-height Infantry Hall for Rhode Island’s First Light Infantry Regiment, and hosted dances and lectures until they moved to a larger building on South Main Street in the 1870s. The building was renovated in 1906 in the Renaissance Revival style, with a full floor created from the former two-story meeting hall and the primary facades clad with stucco and new trim added. The building recently housed offices, but was renovated in 2017 into housing, creating 44 apartments with funding from State Historic Tax Credits, Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credits, and private funding.

Atlantic Bank Building // 1866

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Constructed in 1866, this small three-story brick building with stone facade has miraculously survived over 150 years of the ebbs and flows of Downtown Providence development. The Atlantic Bank Building is located on Weybosset Street adjacent to the Westminster Arcade, and is among the area’s most ornate and well-preserved facades. The structure was constructed to house the Atlantic Bank, which incorporated in 1853. The bank did well financially and eventually moved to a new building in 1906 before financial shortfalls and shady dealings led to its closure in 1913. In the early 20th century, the Atlantic Bank Building was home to offices, a photography studio, and the Ashman House Coffee Shop. A restoration in 1978 helped preserve the building’s rounded windows, elaborate corbels, and finials over the second floor and at the cornice.

Providence National Bank Building // 1951-2005

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On Weybosset Street in Downtown Providence, stands the facade of a building that tells the story of the city. The Providence National Bank originally opened in 1791 as one of just five banks in the country. The longtime home of the institution, the 1774 Joseph Brown House was outgrown and following a merger with the Merchants National Bank, the company elected to build a new headquarters. Constructed in 1929 on the site of the old Lyceum Building on Westminster Street, the Providence National Bank Building was designed by the local firm Howe & Church in a stately Colonial Revival style. The bank merged with the Union Trust and again expanded its facilities with a 1951 addition with frontage on Weybosset Street, the last remaining piece of the structure. Designed in the Colonial Revival style, the Weybosset elevation is five bays wide with a projecting central pavilion, quoined corners, and splayed keystone window lintels beneath a broad entablature. The bank itself passed through several names and owners over the decades, but the building’s real trouble began in 2005, when the Westminster Street portion was razed to clear the way for a proposed condominium tower that was never built, leaving behind a surface parking lot. Only the Weybosset Street facade survived, propped up on rusting steel beams for years and nearly slated for demolition in 2009 before preservation advocates and the Mayor’s office intervened. The site is a reminder to disallow demolition until a financed and permitted project is approved.

Westminster Arcade // 1828

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Westminster Street Facade

The Westminster Arcade, also known as the Providence Arcade, in Downtown Providence, was built in 1828 as the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States. Built in 1828, the Arcade extends a full block between Westminster and Weybosset streets and is a landmark early example of the Greek Revival style. The Arcade was designed by architect, Russell Warren who collaborated with Tallman & Bucklin on the design, who were likely inspired by early shopping arcades in Europe. When the granite building opened, the mall featured three floors of shops, each designed around the central promenade illuminated by skylights in the ceiling, which provided illumination until the incorporation of electric light, which in this sense, is strikingly similar to the modern shopping malls of the mid-to-late 1900s. As suburbanization and retail shopping struggles post-WWII occurred in Downtown Providence, the Arcade experienced high tenant turnover, with the upper floors particularly struggling to attract businesses. After various restorations of the National Historic Landmark, the building reopened in 2013 with office and retail spaces on the ground floor and 48 affordable apartments on the upper two stories, providing an innovative mixed-use way to preserve and fund this important building.

Weybosset Street Facade

Earle Building // c.1898

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A very late example of a Second Empire style commercial block, the Earle Building on Washington Street in Downtown Providence stands as a handsome addition to the urban environment with its human scale and high-quality design. The building is said to have been built by William H. Earle with retail storefronts at the street with offices above. William Earle was a partner in the company, Earle & Prew, an express mailing company (similar to Fedex today). The relatively simple massing is broken up by two-story projecting oriel bays.

Packard Motor Car Showroom // 1915

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This two-story commercial building at the corner of Washington and Empire streets in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the finest structures executed in terracotta in the state. The building was erected in 1915 for the Packard Motor Company as a car showroom, with large plate glass windows to display the newest vehicles inside. Records differ on the architect, with many stating that Albert Kahn, a Detroit-based architect who designed many factories for the company, furnished the designs. He apparently did submit a design, but the company ultimately went with Rhode Island architect, John Hutchins Cady, to design the showroom. The terracotta ornamentation is similar to what is found on nearby theaters and commercial buildings downtown, making the area a sort of a museum for terracotta facades. The building has been occupied by restaurants for much of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Merchants Bank Building // 1857

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The Merchants Bank Building on Westminster Street at the edge of Downtown Providence, is a rare surviving mid-19th century commercial block that survived periods of commercialization, urban renewal and eventual rebirth of this iconic New England city. The Italianate style, six-story flatiron building is sheathed in brownstone and was designed by architects Alpheus C. Morse and Clifton A. Hall as one of the first buildings in Providence’s financial district, which today is comprised of much larger modern skyscrapers. The handsome structure was built for the Merchants Bank, a financial institution that had been organized in February 1818 and was reorganized as a national bank in 1865. Royal C. Taft, governor of Rhode Island, was president of the bank for forty years, from 1868 to 1908. In May 1926 the Merchants National Bank merged with the Providence National Bank, with the combined institution taking the name of the Providence National Bank, but they moved into this building until they completed a new building in 1930. Since then, the building has been home to professional offices, and remains a well-preserved early banking building in Providence.

Arnold Building // 1896

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Located next door to the narrow George C. Arnold Building on Washington Street in Downtown Providence, the 1896 Arnold Building was constructed by George’s father, who was also a real estate developer. The Arnold Building was designed by local architect Clifton A. Hall for William Rhodes Arnold (1839-1912), who employed innovative design details to make the modestly priced building stand out architecturally and provide additional light inside. The yellow brick building is notable for its upper floors with segmental arched windows, prismatic bay windows, and patterned brickwork panels and cornice which adds a lot of texture to the facade. The building serves as an important low-rise commercial building in Providence, which enhances the walkable streets there. 

George C. Arnold Building // 1923

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The narrowest commercial building in Downtown Providence, the George C. Arnold Building, is only just over 12-feet wide and is one of the lesser-known landmarks tucked away amongst the larger commercial blocks and civic buildings. The block was built in 1923 for owner, George C. Arnold (1868-1938) by the local firm of William R. Walker & Son, who designed buildings all over the state. Arnold owned considerable property in Downtown and following a street widening on Washington Street in 1917, he sought to make use of his diminished lot by building the current structure rather than sell the sliver of land for a loss. The brick-sheathed building runs seven bays along Washington Street with Chicago style windows in these bays to bring light inside the building. In 2013, the building was acquired by the Providence Revolving Fund which collaborated with developer-builders Lori Quinn and David Stem to rehabilitate the building. It is currently in use as mixed-use property with two commercial spaces on the street level and three residential units on the upper floors.

Union Trust Company Building // 1901

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Said to be the first skyscraper built in Providence, the Union Trust Company Building on Dorrance Street is one of the finest architectural masterpieces in Rhode Island. The twelve-story tower is finished in red brick with limestone trim and features the base-shaft-capital organization, a design standard for early skyscraper architects to make very tall buildings look balanced. The base here as the bottom two floors, entirely uses stone to show strength, holding the weight above and with large glass windows for the street edge; the shaft uses repeating window designs and showcases the height of the building, drawing your eyes upward; and the capital, which brings a strong cornice and intricate parapet serving as a crown, finishing the building. The architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson furnished the plans for the building for Marsden J. Perry, the President of the Union Trust Company, as the company offices with a banking hall at the ground level. Above the entrance a sculpture, Indian and Puritan by Daniel Chester French, greets visitors along with the many stained glass medallion windows. The Union Trust Company Building is really a feast for the eyes!

Slade Building // 1881

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The Slade Building on Washington Street in Downtown Providence represents the architectural flourish and blending of architectural styles that typified commercial blocks in major New England cities in the late 19th century. The commercial block was named and built for owner, George H. Slade, who was involved in real estate development along with his role as part-owner of Westcott, Slade and Balcom, a paint manufacturing company. The building was designed by Rhode Island architect, Clifton A. Hall (1826-1913) who primarily worked locally. After George’s death, the property remained in the family, and in 1895, the corner tower, also designed by Hall, was added as a way to modernize and bring in new tenants. The block has been rehabilitated and is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of a late 19th century commercial building in Downtown Providence.

Old Providence Telephone Building // 1893

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Located on the narrow Union Street in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, this stunning late 19th century building was designed by the most prominent architectural firm in the state, Stone, Carpenter & Willson as the home of the Providence Telephone Company. Telephones were originally introduced in Providence in 1879, and by 1893, the need for a centralized office led to the construction of this building. The structure was originally just three stories, but as demand and the use of the telephone grew, so did this building, which added two floors in 1906. The handsome brick and terracotta facade is extremely ornate and includes a more strong Classical base and foliate terracotta friezes and columns above with projecting bays to bring light into the building. The building was again outgrown and the Providence Telephone Company moved into a new, purpose-built office building nearby in 1917. This structure remained professional offices and today, the upper floors have been converted to apartments with lower levels occupied by live/work loft spaces and two commercial storefronts.