Working out in Newport is something that has a wide variety of choices and styles. Whether you want to get fit, socialize, Pulse Gym has all of the options. Jacki Lane, trainer and owner is also a giver, to the community and her to her clients. All of the trainers have different styles and specialties. My favorite is beach boot camp. In the summer, early in the morning on Second Beach. you can’t beat it!

– Roxanne Callahan, Brenton Operations Director

Andy Ross, our Managing Director, tells about one of his favorites:

One of my favorite winter activities: Newport Art Museum. The Newport Biennial 2022 opens tomorrow, January 8. It is one of the Newport Art Museum’s longest standing traditions, more than 30 years strong! The juried exhibition features works from New England artists and showcases fresh approaches to art making in our region. This year’s juror is Dr. Kimberli Gant, the McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum.

Join us Saturdays from 4:30PM in the Living Room as we welcome local artist Kimberly Pucci! Kimberly Pucci Atelier and Kimberly Pucci Vault are artistic treasures in Newport and beyond. Read more below about how Kimberly found her passion and meet her in person here at Brenton!

Kimberly Pucci was planning to become a lawyer, but a fateful junior year abroad at the Università degli Studi di Firenze changed everything. “Florence stopped me in my tracks,” she recalls. “Everywhere I turned I was inspired, whether it was food, wine, art or just the culture of living la dolce vita.” Her host family included artisans who handcrafted frames for Renaissance paintings at the Uffizi Gallery—and she was hooked.

Immediately after graduating from the University of Rhode Island, she returned to Florence and immersed herself in every aspect of Renaissance art—taking University courses, working as an art-school archivist, even sneaking into the Pitti Palace with a friend who was restoring Medici dresses. “I bought myself a beautiful apple-red bike with a big basket and a bell, and would just ride the around city,” she remembers. “My favorite cappuccino bar was in the Oltarno neighborhood, the hub of the Florentine artisan scene.Every morning the goldsmiths, woodworkers, painters and sculptors would convene for a caffe corretto, and I’d chat with them about their latest commissions.” Surrounded by art at every turn, she embraced every opportunity to learn more. “Anytime there was a church open or someone in a studio working on mosaics, I had to pop my head in to look.”

After obtaining a work visa and few entry level-positions at Ferragamo and Gucci, Kimberly decided to try her luck on the Ponte Vecchio, the world’s most renowned jewelry destination for almost 500 years. “I walked into one store that just blew me away. A very, very large showroom of the most incredible jewelry. Just breathtaking.” The owners, from a lineage of Florentine jewelers going back to the 1300s, hired her on the spot—and soon she found herself working with everyone from American senators to African kings.

Over the next 11 years she learned every aspect of the business, ultimately becoming Retail Director of the store. “What I really loved was sitting with the artisans as they handcrafted a piece of jewelry,” she says. “They would literally show me the entire process:  how to select and set gemstones, how to transform the raw materials into a wearable work of art.”

Missing her family back in Rhode Island, Kimberly proposed a clever win-win: during the store’s annual off-season, she would build a private trunk show business in the US. “I’d fly to Chicago, or Houston, or San Francisco with four million dollars of amazing Italian jewelry in my backpack!” she laughs. “That’s really how I became an entrepreneur. Women loved

that I could offer them something unique, one-of-a-kind, that they couldn’t get anywhere else.”

During this time, Kimberly met her husband Alessio, a native of Tuscany studying architecture at the Università di Firenze. As her stateside success grew, the couple decided to relocate to Kimberly’s native Rhode Island, but still maintain a foothold in Tuscany with their villa in Montespertoli.

Kimberly continued to build her career with leading fine jewelers in the New England area, but her entrepreneurial spirit would not be denied. Now, with Kimberly Pucci Atelier and Kimberly Pucci Vault, her artistic sensibility and unparalleled expertise have found their ultimate expression. “I am living my passion,” she says. “Building relationships with my clients, and my artisans, based on uncompromising quality and integrity. It’s a dream come true.”

Join us this week (8/4 5-7PM) for an extra special episode of our Artist In Residence series. This week we are featuring one of our very own, Joseph Downing. Joseph is a professional valet here at Brenton in his spare time, when he is not creating evocative, creative art.

In his own words: I began painting roughly two years ago, I do acrylic works on canvas. I do customer commissions on a variety of subjects, I also love to do music and film icons I admire, memorializing them in paintings. It started as a winter time activity, using markers to sort of spend some time constructively, when an artist friend of mine noticed and gifted me some paints and brushes. I started experimenting and now it’s turned into an avenue worth exploring more seriously.  Over the course of the past couple years I have sold and produced many works, and I love seeing and hearing the recipient’s reactions. Painting is something I truly enjoy spending my time on.

Just across the street from Brenton is one of the most iconic pastimes in Newport! The Newport Gulls are one of the best summer collegiate baseball organizations in the country.

Great family entertainment, many of these players will head to the big leagues some day soon! The Newport Gulls are six-time champions of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) and in 2012 were ranked as the No. 1 summer collegiate baseball team nationally by Perfect Game USA.

Grab the kids and head over for an evening of pure Americana (or catch the view from your city view room!)

Are you looking for something different to do today? Right down the street from Brenton is one of the most unique attractions in Newport!

Rail Explorers offers an unforgettable scenic ride along historic Aquidneck Island and spectacular Narragansett Bay on custom built pedal-powered vehicles. The eco-friendly business is all about rail bikes and aims to provide an amazing journey using existing railroad tracks. Available from mid-April through October, the tour takes approximately 90 minutes.

Newport Rail Explorers operates along the Old Colony Railroad, built in 1862. The rails meander alongside spectacular Narragansett Bay offering riders unique views that include Jamestown, the Mount Hope Bridge, Hog Island Lighthouse, and coastal woodlands.
Riders on the Southern Circuit are invited to bring a snack and a drink to enjoy at Bayside Station during the 20 minute turnaround.

HOMICIDE AT ROUGH POINT at The Brenton

JOIN US Wednesday nights this summer from 5 – 7PM in the Library (at the front of the Living Room) as we hear from Peter Lance, author of Homicide at Rough Point.

Peter Lance rips the cover off one of the most controversial local legends in the last 50 years: the full truth behind the killing of gay designer Eduardo Tirella murdered by Doris Duke outside the gates of Rough Point, her Bellevue Avenue estate back in 1966. It was a scandal that rocked the town for decades.

As an exclusive amenity to arriving guests, you’ll find this brand new edition of the most talked-about book of the summer in The City By The Sea. Based, in part, on his lead investigative exposé in last July’s issue of Vanity Fair, former 5-time Emmy winning ABC News correspondent and native Newporter.

Newport Oyster & Chowder Festival is back! The 2021 festival is presented by Bowen’s Wharf!

Taste your way around the Ocean State! Sip champagne and enjoy oysters and chowder from local growers and vendors on the waterfront all weekend long. Did you know that RI is home to upwards of 45 oyster farms? The flavors are distinctive to each farm, so this is your chance to savor a sampling of them in one festive atmosphere!

Growers will be shucking alongside a select group of local restaurants and live music under festival tents. Additional oysters, a full bar and other food provided by local restaurants will also be available on site for purchase. Please note that festival attendance will be controlled and limited in compliance with current public health restrictions.

Tickets are On Sale NOW!

Beaches of Newport:

Eastons Beach: Easton’s Beach is a beach of many names. You may also have heard it called First Beach or Newport Beach. But whatever its name is, the beach can be found on the strip of land on Easton’s Bay that connects the peninsula named Easton’s Point in Middletown with Newport. This large and easily accessible beach features a snack bar, a carousel and the Save the Bay Aquarium.,

Gooseberry located Ocean Drive. It is a private beach, but also open to the public. The beach is located between Bailey’s Beach and Hazard’s Beach. Gooseberry itself is nestled in a cove, protected by a spit of land and several large boulders roughly 100 feet offshore at high tide, no more than 50 at low tide

Fort Adams This beach is located in Fort Adams State Park at the mouth of the Newport Harbor. Visitors to Fort Adams State Park can enjoy saltwater swimming, fishing, and boating. In the summer, the park hosts a variety of concerts and music festivals. You will also find sports fields, the Museum of Yachting, and a sailing facility.

King Park Beach: King Park, sometimes called Newport Harbor Park, is a narrow strip of land that has fantastic views of Newport Harbor, Fort Adams and even the Newport Bridge. During the summer the waters of Newport are filled with huge and impressive sailboats and yachts and the park is usually packed with people just enjoying the views.
Besides the great natural attraction, the park also has some benches, picnic tables, a baseball field, and a bandstand and rotunda

Brenton will be offering a “Dinner on Us” package with a complimentary dinner in the Living Room with your overnight stay from April 9th through the 18th! One Dinner per stay and certain restrictions do apply. Please refer to our special offers page for details!