A fire has destroyed a large house in a historic section of Newport, Rhode Island, near many mansions that have become tourist attractions.
Fire officials say they responded Thursday afternoon to a home named Stonor Lodge on Bellevue Avenue. They say the blaze was brought under control Thursday evening and no one was injured. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
City records indicate the property once was owned by the late John Drexel III and Noreen Stonor Drexel. He was head of a powerful Philadelphia banking family. His great-great-grandfather Anthony Drexel was a business partner of financier J.P. Morgan and founded Drexel University.
The Preservation Society of Newport County oversees some of the city's mansions and says they exemplify the finest achievements in American architecture and decorative arts from the Colonial era to the Gilded Age.
