The loss of most of four blocks of nineteenth-century houses was still fresh in the minds of Brown’s neighbors when plans were announced for another quadrangle. Brown feigned concern for historic-preservation issues, but the eventual loss of the houses here precipitated the organization of the Providence Preservation Society in February 1956. Perry, Shaw & Hepburn continued the mid-Atlantic-inspired forms begun across the street earlier in the decade, but the overall smaller scale of the complex actually restricts massing opportunities to less variety than found in Wriston; the southern elevation fails gracefully to accommodate the change in grade along Charlesfield Street and is consequently dull and ponderous urbanistically. The quadrangle was posthumously named for Wriston’s successor, Barnaby C. Keeney.
– 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture
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