More on Sanford Covell House in Newport

Yesterday’s blog about the Washington Street house in Newport that is associated with Lizzie after her trial got me wanting to see more of the place. Newscout came through with a pretty cool site that has a front view of the B&B and some information regarding the architecture of the building. Turns out the house is an example of Stick Style.

According to Len Rebello’s Lizzie Borden Past and Present, the seminal book on the case, “Shortly after her trial, Lizzie stayed in Newport, Rhode Island, at the home of William King Covell on Farewell Street. It was thought that Lizzie stayed at the Mr. Covell’s oceanview home on Washington Street in Newport. However, the oceanview home on Washington Street was not purchased by the Covells until 1895. The Covells were relatives of Mrs. Charles J. Holmes. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes were friends of Lizzie. They testified at Lizzie’s trial in 1893.”

As Sherry Chapman reported in the August 2004 issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies, the Washington Street house was indeed purchased in 1895 and it was at that time that the family moved there from the Farewell Street house. The owners of the Washington St. house report that they had been given a “bread and butter gift” of six pie forks by Lizzie, of which two still exist. “The oceanfront house also has all the original furniture from the house on Farewell Street.”