Organized and led by Margaret Back and Gina Tangorra of the Newport Restoration Foundation
Margaret Back is a Preservation Projects Manager at the Newport Restoration Foundation. At NRF, Margaret leads projects connecting climate change and built heritage resiliency. Her current projects include an energy efficiency study for 19th-century Newport buildings, and she is project lead for the Keeping History Above Water conference series. She previously worked as a Preservation Manager for the South Region of Historic New England, where she oversaw preservation projects and facility maintenance for properties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. She holds an M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.
Gina Tangorra is the Director of Engagement for the Newport Restoration Foundation. She has been at NRF for 8 years, with evolving roles that have worked to advance NRF’s strategic engagement with communities, increase accessibility, spark curiosity, and encourage a sense of belonging through inclusive storytelling.
47 John Street: Inside a Preservation & Storytelling Project
Sunday May 3, 10am-11am
Start and end at 47 John Street
Cyclical building maintenance offers the opportunity to learn more about the history, use, and materiality of a specific property. At the ca.1740 Constant Tabor House located at 47 John Street in Newport, plaster walls, painted finishes, wallpaper fragments, and a remarkable faux-wood grained painted staircase are some of the unique features being actively repaired as part of NRF’s stewardship. This interior house “walk” discussed how NRF distinguishes restoration from preservation while also sharing how uncovering architectural layers helps support storytelling about the house's past inhabitants.
Walk Reflections
“Leaders were well informed and I learned so much about my neighborhood!”
— Walk Participant
“Great event; wonderful way to get a deeper understanding of Newport's past, present and future.”
— Walk ParticipantGina and Margaret met the 40+ person group in the driveway of 47 John St on a breezy Sunday morning. We moved into the backyard and first learned the history of the house, which included the history of the neighborhood. Gina and Margaret invited us to listen closely for the now-obvious street sounds from Memorial, reminding us that the road would not have been there when the house was first built.
We learned more about NRF’s tenant steward program and that this house had been occupied for 38 years, giving NRF carpenters, plasterers and restorationists lots of work to do to get it ready for its next occupants.
Once inside the group was too large to move through together and so we were invited to roam while Margaret and Gina shared many interesting tidbits, including an amazing scrapbook of the house they’d recently discovered in their archives. We talked about the tromp l’oeil faux wood painting on the staircase (original to the 1700’s!) and the bizarre collection of bathrooms (original to the 1970’s!)
