The 401
SPACES : FOCAL POINTS
BY DANA LAVERTY
N Wallflowers
EED A LITTLE INDOOR INSPO ? Head to the RISD Museum for “ The Art of French Wallpaper Design ” exhibit to see how the salons of the fashionable set were decorated in the 1700s and 1800s . The 100 samples feature wallpapers , borders and fragments decorated with florals , classical themes and abstract ornamentation popular at the time . Most of the papier peint (“ painted paper ”) examples on display were crafted using woodblock printing . Who knows ? You may just come home with the perfect idea for your next project .
The exhibit runs through May 11 . risdmuseum . org .
Hot to Go !
Providence is expected to have the third-hottest housing market in the U . S . this year , according to Zillow . The real-estate marketplace company cited relative affordability and demand that will outpace supply as the main drivers , along with Providence being seen as a cheaper alternative to nearby Boston .
Nationwide , housing inventory should continue to recover from pandemic-era lows , Zillow predicts , along with steady growth for home values and sales . Affordability and unpredictable mortgage rates will continue to vex buyers , however .
W The Ultimate Find
HEN STONEACRE GARDEN IN NEWPORT reopens for the season on Saturday , March 15 , a 7½-foot-tall glitter pony — and accompanying 6-foot-tall disco ball — will greet patrons . Unbridled horse lover Nicole Canning , who owns Stoneacre Hospitality with husband Christopher Bender , and partner David Crowell , was first tipped off to the horse ’ s existence at the Middletown
HomeGoods store by a friend . “ It was the last quarter before we go into slow season ,” she says . “ I absolutely could not budget $ 2,500 for a disco pony .”
Fast-forward two weeks . Another friend was at HomeGoods and called Canning : The pony was marked down to $ 225 , with the disco ball a sweet $ 100 . She and Bender drove to the store as fast as they legally could , plunked down cold hard cash , and the pony and disco ball were theirs . They came back the next day with Crowell ’ s truck and put the pony into the cab , where he made his journey triumphantly into the City by the Sea and his new home at Stoneacre Garden . His name ? Neighthan , in honor of the friend who alerted Canning to the massive markdown . 🆁
PHOTOGRAPHY : ( CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT ) COURTESY OF RISD MUSEUM ; COURTESY OF STONEACRE GARDEN .
42 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MARCH 2025