(5.23) Want to get a look inside this fabulous architectural gem? The Wedding Cake House — a fixture on the Providence Preservation Society’s (PPS) Most Endangered Properties List for years — now sports a new coat of buttercream frosting. Xander Marro, Pippi Zornoza, and their fabulous crew of volunteers, should be praised for taking on this daunting project. (The interior — loaded with stained glass, parquet floors, old wallpaper, and marble mantlepieces — was just as challenging as the exterior.)
This Thursday the Providence Preservation Society invites you to: Sites + Stories Explored: Culminating Event and Reception.
Event — 5pm to 7pm:
The Providence Preservation Society’s Sites and Stories Explored culminates at the Bell Street Chapel (3 Bell Street) Thursday evening with several of the artists screening their works, as well as a discussion of their process. Free and open to the public, advance registration required.
Reception — 7pm to 8:30pm:
Following the artists’ discussion, there will be a ticketed reception at the Wedding Cake House (514 Broadway), which will feature libations, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and a chance to explore this iconic piece of Providence’s architectural history and witness the restoration work being undertaken by the Dirt Palace.
Wedding Cake House Reception — General Admission: $30. VIP tickets $100 (includes a special print by Sites and Stories artist Walker Mettling of the Knight Memorial Library and a copy of “From Paris to Providence, Fashion, Art and the Tirocchi Dressmakers’ Shop” based on the 2001 RISD Exhibit).
Anyone who has scraped, sanded, and caulked an old house will appreciate how daunting this project was, inside and out. The picture below was taken in May of last year before its fresh coat paint — thank you Adler’s Hardware and C2 paint! Just think of prepping all those cornices, friezes, and dentils . . . makes my elbow hurt.
All proceeds will benefit the Providence Preservation Society and the ongoing restoration work at the Wedding Cake House.
