Treasure Trove
Traci Maceroni remembers wanting a mother like Donna Reed . Instead , she got something more like Honey West .
“ She was every bit the unaverage housewife ,” says Maceroni . “ She was a hot ticket ; she used to wear a bandeau and sunbathe in the yard . She was glamorous .”
Maceroni and her sister , Heidi Loomis , grew up on Lorimer Avenue on the East Side of Providence . Their father , Neville Winkler , ran a jewelry business and their mother , Norma , served as a second set of eyes — quite literally ; Neville was colorblind . A nurse by trade , Norma was also an antiques collector , a world traveler and a patron of local arts .
In 1980 , when the sisters were grown , their parents sold their family home and bought a plot of land about a mile down the road in the historic Freeman Plat district , a neighborhood rich with Neo-Georgian and Tudor-style homes . It was Norma ’ s chance to build the house she ’ d always wanted , Loomis says — one filled with art and architectural treasures she ’ d amassed over a lifetime .
“ She just had a verve for beauty ,” says Loomis . “ That was a big part of our lives .”
102 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JANUARY 2021