The Isaac Bell House Collection is comprised of two folders of photographs and a separate photo album. The objects date from circa 1879-1980, and formats include albumen prints, Kodak bullet photographs and gelatin prints. The photographs depict the exterior and the interior of the house under various periods of ownership. The album holds bullet photographs of the Barger family during their social forays around Newport, Rhode Island.
This collection has been fully digitized and is available for viewing online at
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the PSNC Archives and Special Collections are requested to contact the archivist, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although the Preservation Society has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim copyright ownership. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the copyright and to obtain any necessary permission from them.
The collection is open to the public, and there are no restrictions on access. However, the collection can only be seen by scheduled appointment.
"Courtesy of the Preservation Society of Newport County"
This collection is arranged by type of materials and subject matter in one document box. The collection has been divided into two series.
The Bell Family:
Isaac Bell, Jr. was born in New York City the son of a steamboat owner. He attended Harvard University in 1866 and 1867, but did not graduate. He became a successful cotton broker and one of the primary investors in the Commercial Cable Company which broke the transatlantic cable monopoly. He was a member of an established New York family, and retired at the age of 31 in 1877 with the fortune he had accumulated. The following year, he married Jeanette Bennett at the Newport, RI estate of her brother, James Gordon Bennett, owner of the New York Herald. The Bells had three children: Valentine Mott Bell, Olivia Bell, and Isaac Bell III. Isaac Bell Jr. was active in Rhode Island Democratic party. President Grover Cleveland appointed him the U.S. Minister to the Netherlands, which he served from 1885-88. Bell died in January of 1889, from typhoid fever. His funeral was held at Trinity Church, and he was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
The Barger Family:
Beginning when Isaac Bell, Jr. was serving as Minister Resident to the Court of the Netherlands, the house was rented to New York lawyer and capitalist, Samuel F. Barger and his family. After Bell's death, in 1891, Samuel Barger purchased the home from Mrs. Bell. Mr. Barger named the house “Edna Villa," after his wife, Edna Jeanie LaFavor, whom he married in 1869. There is an inscription of this name, still visibly carved into the stone gatepost at the entrance to the property. Samuel Barger was born in 1832 in New York City. He became a lawyer in 1854 and remained in practice until 1867, when he became one of the directors of the New York Central Railroad. In this position, Barger was responsible for overseeing the merger of the Hudson River Railroad with the New York Central. He further served on the executive and finance committees for various other railroad companies throughout the country. The Bargers had three children: Milton, Edna, and Maude. Samuel F. Barger died in New York City in 1914.
The DeSantis Family:
The house remained in the Barger family until 1952, when it was purchased by Leonard J. DeSantis. The DeSantis ownership was brief, but documentary evidence remains from the period. Leonard DeSantis and his wife, Ruth had four children: Janet, Elizabeth, Michael, and Leonard.
Architectural photographs taken for the PSNC by Robert Meservey, 1947 and John T. Hopf, 1980; Family photographs and album gifted to PSNC by Mrs. Ruth DeSantis, 1998