Through the 1920s a 2-story, 2-family wood-frame house, perhaps similar to the one around the corner at 29 Elbow Street, occupied this site. This building was originally a single story brick garage, built on speculation; its original occupant was an automobile-body shop. A simple brick building, it still retains the original stepped roofline with ceramic coping. What’s compelling here, however, in both form and use, is the metal-clad residence behind and atop the building’s west end. A high fence encloses the small garden on which the residence faces. This residential condominium, designed in 1999 by the architect Freidrich St. Florian, was commissioned by the late artist Alfred DeCredico. DeCredico led the original group of artists who, in 1978, developed the Hedison Chaplin Building, across the street at 116 Chestnut, into the city’s first condominiums. He was a revered and long-time member of the Faculty of Rhode Island School of Design.
The front of the building, which faces onto Chestnut, is a separate condominium unit, which has been used as artist’s studios. The structure, which has a full basement, still shows signs of the original interior ramp which allowed cars to access the lower level.
— 2012 Festival of Historic Houses Guidebook
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