Whitehall

Photograph of Whitehall


Whitehall Museum House, 311 Berkeley Avenue, Middletown, Rhode Island RI 02840, U.S.A.

Dean Berkeley had Whitehall built in 1729, to provide a residence for himself and his new family during their sojourn in Rhode Island until 1731. Since 1900, the building has been maintained by the National Society of the Colonial Dames in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (founded 1890), who have opened it to the public every summer. The photograph above shows the exterior of Whitehall; for photographs of the interior, click here.

In the following photograph, we see a frontal view of Whitehall. A member of the Colonial Dames of Rhode Island stands in the doorway. This illustrates the curious illusory door: from the outside it appears to be a symmetrical double door, but in fact only the right-hand half is actually a door. The left-hand side does not open.

Whitehall, front view


History of Whitehall

In 1725, George Berkeley published a "Proposal" to found a college in Bermuda to educate sons of colonists and American Indians for the ministry. He received a warrant from King George I and a promise of £20,000 from Parliament.

The Dean sailed to Rhode Island and arrived in Newport in January, 1729, with his bride and an entourage which included John Smibert, the portrait painter. They were welcomed by Mr. Honyman, the rector of Trinity Church. Intending to wait here for the promised funds, he bought 96 acres of farmland on which to raise livestock and supplies for his Bermuda project.

Berkeley used his knowledge of architecture when enlarging the original dwelling on this farm. He incorporated features unusual for this period in New England: the formal facade, the hipped roof with lean-to construction, the false double front door and the cross central hall and stairway.

To this house, named Whitehall, clergy and scholars gathered. A literary and philosophical discussion group, forerunner of the Redwood Library was formed. Berkeley the philosopher wrote "Alciphron or The Minute Philosopher" while here. Berkeley the educator later influenced the founding of King's College (Columbia) and Brown University. His poem with the stanza "Westward the course of empire... " caused the University of California to name their city Berkeley.

After nearly three years in Newport, he realized the grant would never materialize so he returned to England with his family and belongings. Sadly, he left without his infant daughter Lucia, who is buried in Trinity Church, Newport. Soon thereafter he was made the Bishop of Cloyne, Ireland.

After Berkeley's return to England, he gave his entire Whitehall estate - his house, farm and his library - to Yale College, with the annual profits to be applied to the maintenance of three resident scholars. Yale rented the farm to successive tenants, some of whom subleased to tavern keepers and proprietors of coffee houses. During the Revolution, British officers and their men were billeted in the house and appropriated the farm's livestock and produce.

For more than the next hundred years five generations of one family successfully farmed their land. They outgrew the old house in the 1880s and let it be used for the storage of hay. In 1897 three Newport ladies bought the abandoned house with a surrounding half-acre. After repairing it extensively, they gave it to the National Society of the Colonial Dames in Rhode Island who have shown Whitehall to the public every summer since 1900. A provision of their gift was that Whitehall should be kept and exhibited as a memorial to Bishop Berkeley.

Over the years, several important restorations have been made. Appropriate furniture and furnishings have been acquired by generous gifts and loans. An 18th century garden adjoining the house is maintained by the Newport Garden Club.

Visiting Whitehall

Whitehall is open to visitors during the whole of July and August, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, except on Mondays when the house is closed. Tours will be guided by 'resident scholars' from Thursdays through Sundays each week during those months, and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays by other knowledgeable guides. (During the remaining months of the year, visiting is by prior appointment only.) Please telephone (401) 846-3116 or (401) 847-7951.

 

In the summer of 2004, resident scholars included:

 

  • July 3-19: Prof. Steven Hales and wife Susan with daughter Holly. Dept. of Philosophy, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA 17815
  • July 19-31: The Rev. Canon Dr. Michael Ipgrave, wife Dr. Julia Ipgrave and sons Frank and Ben. Interfaith relations adviser, Archbishop's Council of the Church of England. Church House, Great Smith St,  London, SW1P 3NZ, UK
  • August 1-15: Prof. Charles Taliaferro, Philosophy Dept., St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN 55057
  • August 16-31: Dr. Timo Airaksinen and wife Eira. Prof. of Philosophy, University of Helsinki, Finland

 

Whitehall is situated in Middletown, just outside Newport. (When the house was built in 1729, Middletown formed part of Newport, and was set aside in 1742.)

Map showing how to get to Whitehall
Map drawn by Alexander Nesbitt, 1974.

Other Rhode Island sites

  • Trinity Church, where Berkeley often preached. His infant daughter Lucia is buried in the churchyard. In 1733, Berkeleye presented the church with an organ, which is still in use.
  • A chapel named in his honor, Berkeley Chapel or Berkeley Memorial Church, is located off Indian Avenue, Middletown, RI.
  • It is reported that Berkeley wrote his "Alciphron, or Minute Philosopher" at Hanging Rock, which located within the Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown. In consideration of the strong winds experience in this exposed position, however, we surmise it is unlikely that Berkeley actually put pen to paper at that spot.
  • The Redwood Library has a portrait of Rev. George Berkeley, ca. 1731, attributed to Alfred Hart.

Photograph © 2000, Ian C. Tipton.
History & map © 1974, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, reproduced with permission.
The construction of this page has benefited from information gleaned from the web site of the Redwood Library, http://www.redwood1747.org/homepage.html.