This New England

Commentary and Photo by WILLIAM MORGAN

The small Narragansett Bay-side community of Buttonwoods is a jewel that comes as a complete surprise, deeply hidden as it is in Warwick -- a strong contender for Rhode Island's and perhaps New England's ugliest bit of suburban sprawl.

This bucolic enclave was once a modest summer getaway for city dwellers. They'd close up the house in Providence and head down to the shore for the summer.

Not all the houses in Buttonwoods are special; goop has seeped in here, too. But there are still a few delightful gingerbread cottages. The 19th-century Carpenters Gothic confections bring to mind their more famous brethren at the Methodist camp meeting at Oak Bluffs, on Martha's Vineyard.

And as we hunker down for winter, these treasures also remind us that summer will come again. Then there will no better place to be than on a porch near the water.

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 Tags  Buttonwoods William Morgan

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