The Newport List

Newport may be famous for its Gilded Age mansions and sailing history, but it’s the rituals of local life that people fall in love with—and that bring families back for generations. Think chowder on the harbor, sunset cocktails at Castle Hill watching sailboats drift by, afternoons browsing beautifully curated antiques shops and bookstores, matches on the historic grass courts and summer evenings at one of America’s oldest baseball fields. Five local insiders share the places and traditions that make this coastal town feel so timeless.

NICK MELE – lifestyle, fashion and fine art photographer and author of A Newport Summer

“Newport has always been more than a summer destination for me. It is part of my family history, part of my childhood, and in many ways, part of the reason I see the world the way I do. My grandmother first bought a house in Newport in the 1950s, and part of that property has remained in our family ever since. I grew up spending every summer there, surrounded by salty air, worn tennis whites, creaky floorboards, overgrown gardens, and rooms that seemed to hold several generations of stories at once.

Newport taught me early that style is not about everything being perfect. It is about character, memory, patina, and the small details that make a place feel truly lived in. So many important moments in my life have happened there. I spent much of my childhood on the rocks of the Cliff Walk, fishing for hermit crabs and jumping off an ever-escalating series of cliffs. My first job was bartending at Perro Salado (back when it was a French rotisserie chicken restaurant whose name has since escaped me). I met my future wife on the patio of the Black Pearl. I spent the night of my wedding at The Vanderbilt.

As a photographer, I began by simply documenting my family and friends. Over time, I realized the images that held the most weight were often the ones rooted in Newport: the grand dames and even grander houses, the cracked walls, the weathered porches, the rituals, the traditions, and the small moments that made summer feel timeless. So much so that years later, my first coffee-table book was A Newport Summer. Now, coming back every summer with my own family, I get to watch my children run around the same beaches, docks, lawns, and old houses that shaped my imagination. Newport is a place where the past never feels entirely gone, and where a simple summer day can still feel cinematic if you are paying attention.”

EAT & DRINK

The Black Pearl – A Newport institution.  It is exactly what you want Newport to be: harbor views, chowder, dark wood, salty air, and the feeling that everyone has been coming there forever.

Perro Salado – A hidden gem. It’s a Mexican restaurant tucked into an old house, which makes it feel more like you have been invited to dinner somewhere than seated in a stuffy restaurant.