Beneath the shingled exterior of this house are the gabled forms of a two-and-one-half-story cottage that may have been one of many rental properties in this neighborhood owned by Newport developer Alfred Smith. In 1883, Sophia Blatchford of New York had the house rebuilt in the most fashionable style with shingles sheathing all exterior surfaces. Parasol projections for dormers, a top-story sleeping porch and dovecote grid cut cleanly into the facade, and the flared shingle skirt dividing the stories complete a transformation so remarkable that there has been speculation that Boston's famed architect in the Shingle Style, William Ralph Emerson, may have designed it. The innovative entrance design of balustered staircase and porch with shingled columns underscores this attribution. Emerson worked on several other houses in Newport (
NE17, NE102, NE181, NE182).