Rhode Island

Inside a Work of Art in Providence – Rhode Island Monthly

Published

10 months ago

June 13, 2025

Inside a Work of Art in Providence – Rhode Island Monthly

The sleek white kitchen has sunny views of downtown Providence. Photography by Angel Tucker

Allison Spain and her husband had just finished their second home renovation project when they saw an 1867 Italianate for sale on Providence’s Benefit Street.

The home had been vacant for years. The roof leaked, trees branched through windows and the rooms were cloaked in layers of dated wallpaper and musty carpeting.

But it mattered none — Allison was smitten with its ornate details and hardware, the marble fireplaces, the flowers hand-painted by the previous owner, the high ceilings and hardwood floors she knew could be burnished to a bright glow.

Ornate details, a vintage chandelier and marble fireplace frame the living room. Photography by Angel Tucker

“I was overwhelmed by the amount of work it needed, but I just loved it so much,” Allison says.

They put in a Hail Mary offer, sure that it would be denied. It wasn’t.

William G. Angell, president of the American Screw Company in Providence, built the stately home in 1867. It’s a vestige of Providence’s time as a manufacturing powerhouse, 4,000 square feet of opulence on four floors, with four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths and marble fireplaces scattered throughout.

A new tile floor in the foyer is similar to one in Allison’s mother’s childhood home in the Azores. Photography by Angel Tucker

For a brief period — 1933 to 1941 — the home was deeded to Swan Point Cemetery. Frances Stanton, a talented artist and member of the Providence Art Club who taught at CCRI, lived there for decades until her death in 2019. It sat vacant until the Spains bought it in July 2023.

Allison, a Providence native, moved back home to be closer to her parents, who’d settled in Bristol. A nurse by training, she adored the architecture and charm of the old homes in the area. She and her husband, Ben, renovated two houses in the capital city — first on Irving Avenue and then on Savoy Street — before they found the one on Benefit Street.

“I enjoy bringing things that are in rough shape into something beautiful and making a home,” Allison says. “I think that correlates with nursing a little bit, too. It’s like taking care of things — being a good steward of the property, and then also taking care of the people who live there.”

Ben started demo right after closing, with Allison, their two children and two dogs moving in with her parents. During the days, she helped him pull up carpets, scrape off wallpaper and remove asbestos tiles from the third floor while wearing a respirator mask in the stifling August heat.

A mirror belonging to former owner Frances Stanton hangs in the dining room. Photography by Angel Tucker

It took them eight hours — per room — to peel off the padding underneath all that carpeting. They refinished and stained the floors an ebony shade, restored most of the windows, which were in terrible shape, and replaced the leaking roof. They couldn’t save Stanton’s delicate flower mural in the kitchen, but tenderly cleaned and restored several mirrors and chandeliers she left behind.

With all the large projects finished, the family officially moved in in October 2023.

In a final nod to Stanton’s legacy, they painted all the rooms in gleaming white tones.

“Frances was an artist. I just thought, ‘Let’s do an art gallery,’” Allison says. “I mean, you walk into an art gallery and it’s all white. I view this house as a piece of art.”

Homeowner Allison Spain painted the front door a mossy green to match the mail slot’s verdigris. Photography by Angel Tucker

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Rhode Island

Crash closes Route 146 north in Lincoln

Published

1 hour ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation reported a crash blocking all travel lanes on Route 146 north.

RIDOT posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the crash cleared shortly before 8 p.m.

Officials said the crash happened at the exit to Route 99 in Lincoln.

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Rhode Island

Who is Dolores Catania? What to know about ‘The Real Housewives’ of RI guest

Published

13 hours ago

April 2, 2026

Press Room

Who is Dolores Catania? What to know about ‘The Real Housewives’ of RI guest

With the premiere of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island”, you may be wondering exactly who you will be seeing on the screen.

Premiering on Thursday, April 2, Rhode Island’s debut in “The Real Housewives” franchise will focus on seven women from all across the Ocean State. The series will also include appearances from a franchise-familiar face: “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dolores Catania.

Never seen “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”? Here’s what to know about Dolores Catania ahead of Rhode Island’s series premiere.

Who is Dolores Catania?

Born and raised in New Jersey, Dolores Catania quickly became a franchise fan-favorite after joining “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” in Season 7. While “The Real Housewives” is known for drama, Catania herself is known as a mediator on the show, often helping to keep the peace rather than choosing sides in an argument.

The 55-year-old Bravo celebrity shares two children with her ex-husband Frank Catania, who she maintains a close friendship and business partnership with. Catania is now engaged to Paul “Paulie” Connell, and she recently told Us Weekly that she plans to take wedding inspiration from another part-time Rhode Islander: Taylor Swift.

A TV personality and multi-faceted entrepeneur, Dolores Catania is most well-known for her charitable work with women’s shelters and animal rescue organizations. In 2018, fans voted her as “Miss Congeniality” across the entire “Real Housewives” franchise. Her efforts have also been recognized with honors such as the key to the city of Paterson and the Ambassador of Hope Award by Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, according to Bravo.

How is Dolores Catania connected to Rhode Island?

While Dolores Catania will be featured throughout “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island,” she is not trading her Jersey housewife life for the Ocean State. Rather, Catania joins the new series as a friend and mentor.

Specifically, Catania comes into the show as a close friend of Rhode Island “Real Housewife” Liz McGraw, a well-known Rhode Island dispensary owner whom Catania met at a cannabis convention. Together, the pair has plans to launch a line of gummies for menopausal women.

“It was a dream to have her by my side. I couldn’t imagine anything cooler than to have her here on my home turf with me,” McGraw told Bravo about filming alongside Catania. “Dolores is just an amazing friend. She understands me and I understand her. I trust her with my life.”

Although Catania did not know any of the other cast members prior to filming, she told Bravo that she became close with the entire cast.

“In a really crazy way, I felt like I knew them forever. They’re all very relatable to me. Each person, in their own way, I very much understood and felt that I fit in,” Catania said in a release.

While Catania said no state could ever come close to New Jersey, she did admit that she enjoyed filming in the “calmer” state of Rhode Island. She added that she does not feel too different from the Rhode Island housewives, saying that viewers will love them for their relatability in the same way they loved the relatability of the New Jersey housewives.

How to watch ‘The Real Houswives of Rhode Island’

The debut season of “The Real Housewives of Rhode Island” will premiere Thursday, April 2 at 9 p.m. on Bravo. After the first episode, new episodes will air weekly on Sundays at 9 p.m.

Episodes will be available for next-day streaming on Peacock. This means that the first episode will be available to stream on Friday, April 3, with new episodes available to stream on Mondays each week after that.

Watch ‘The Real Housewives of Rhode Island’ on Peacock

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Rhode Island

401Gives surpasses $5 million goal, setting records across the board for Rhode Island nonprofits – What’s Up Newp

Published

1 day ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

401Gives surpasses million goal, setting records across the board for Rhode Island nonprofits – What’s Up Newp

Rhode Islanders delivered.

401Gives, the statewide day of giving powered by United Way of Rhode Island, surpassed its $5 million fundraising goal by the time giving closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday, setting new records for donors, gifts and participating organizations in the initiative’s seven-year history.

Over 36 hours, 20,112 donors made 32,544 gifts to benefit 705 Rhode Island nonprofits — each figure a new high for 401Gives, which has now raised more than $24 million since its debut in 2020.

“401Gives and the generosity shown by our Rhode Island neighbors is nothing short of extraordinary, to have pushed the bar even higher with another record-breaking year is incredible,” said Cortney Nicolato, United Way’s president and CEO. “This is significant funding for our nonprofits, dollars they didn’t have just days ago. At a time of real need, our neighbors rose to the occasion, underscoring what I’ve always known to be true… Rhode Islanders always have one another’s back.”

Giving began at 6 a.m. Tuesday, with a $20,000 matching gift from the Papitto Opportunity Connection kicking things off. The effort crossed $1 million within its first few hours. Additional matches from Rhode Island Energy, Rhode Island Foundation, Eastern Bank and CapEx helped drive sustained bursts of activity throughout the day and a half. This year’s 401Gives began a day earlier than usual to honor Passover.

Among the top fundraisers, Newport’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center led the large nonprofit category with $204,864 raised, followed by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island at $165,329. School One topped medium-sized organizations with $81,165, while The Gordon School led small nonprofits at $61,312 and Partnership for Providence Parks paced micro organizations at $65,949. Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England surpassed $55,000, exceeding their goal. In all, 113 organizations raised $10,000 or more and 196 exceeded $5,000.

The Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education engaged the highest number of individual donors at 519, followed by Foster Forward at 449 and Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance at 312.

“From Woonsocket to Westerly and everywhere in between, nonprofits touch our lives every single day, and often in ways people don’t even realize,” said Caitlynn Douglas, who leads 401Gives for the organization. “To see the way our community rallies around 401Gives and supports organizations that are feeding families, caring for seniors, educating our children, protecting our environment, enriching the arts, and so much more is extremely powerful. We hope donors see 401Gives as the beginning of an ongoing relationship with nonprofits and more than just a day of giving.”

Rhode Island’s nonprofit sector accounts for 18 percent of the state’s total workforce. 401Gives is powered by United Way of Rhode Island and its Alliance for Nonprofit Impact.

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