A Passion for Preservation

Today, Newport is renowned as one of the most historically significant and architecturally intact cities in America. In the years following World War II, this heritage was under siege; the city's rich collection of colonial buildings and Gilded Age mansions was threatened by demolition and redevelopment. Katherine Warren, California-born and New Orleans-bred, intervened by galvanizing her adopted community around the protection of its architectural heritage and, in doing so, contributed greatly to the city's revitalization. Warren's passion for preservation was complemented by an equally fervent interest in modernist art; her collection of works by such artists as Picasso and Mondrian rivaled that of the nation's leading patrons of twentieth-century art.
Warren's story stretches far beyond her pivotal role in founding and leading The Preservation Society of Newport County; her pursuit of community engagement, creative adaptive uses for historic structures, and economic development through preservation proved avant-garde, earning Newport national recognition and revealing Warren as a thought leader in preservation nationwide.