( PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL SUSI )
Snapshot: The Bells
Nothing’s creepier than nature — quite literally, in the case of the Bells stables at Brenton Point State Park in Newport. Vines
and trees and colonies of mold choke the crumbling structure, which was part of an estate built in 1876 for copper tycoon
Theodore Davis. In 1915, the Budlong family bought the property and, by way of a bitter divorce, they sentenced it to a slow but
certain death. The estate sat unoccupied from 1928 until World War II, when the military seized it to house gunnery personnel.
The war ended and, once again, the mansion went dark until — “Oh, the bells, bells, bells!” — fire awakened its hallways one
final time. The main house was demolished in 1963, but the stables endured. In spite of the chain link fence and a “Danger No
Trespassing” sign, graffiti adorns the interior and exterior — proof positive of our presence here, however fleeting, because,
deep down, we know it to be true: Nature always gets the last word. —CASEY NILSSON
120 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l l SEPTEMBERT OCTOBER 2012 2020