In Chap­ter 26 of “The Ways of Men,” titled “Pre-pala­tial New­port,” the Ocean House, once a pres­ti­gious hotel in New­port, is nos­tal­gi­cal­ly recount­ed fol­low­ing its destruc­tion by fire. The nar­ra­tive explores the sig­nif­i­cance of the Ocean House not just as a build­ing, but as a sym­bol of an era in New­port’s his­to­ry that has since van­ished. This bygone peri­od was char­ac­ter­ized by its social cus­toms, leisure­ly activ­i­ties, and the gen­teel lifestyle of its inhab­i­tants, mark­ing the pre-pala­tial phase of New­port from 1845 to 1885.

The chap­ter vivid­ly describes the chang­ing social scenes of New­port, depict­ing a time when life was sim­pler, din­ners were ear­li­er, and the new­ly intro­duced con­cept of six o’clock din­ners was seen as a mod­ern inno­va­tion. The text nos­tal­gi­cal­ly recalls “high-teas,” “sal­ly lunns,” and the leisure­ly pace of life punc­tu­at­ed by “rock­aways” and pic­nics that were com­mon social activ­i­ties of the era.

Sports and cul­tur­al inter­ests were mod­est, with after­noons often spent in sedate activ­i­ties like dri­ving up Belle­vue Avenue. This was con­trast­ed with gath­er­ings at his­toric sites or clubs where intel­lec­tu­al pur­suits were enter­tained, reflect­ing the cul­tured but under­stat­ed lifestyle of New­port’s res­i­dents dur­ing this time.

The nar­ra­tive also touch­es on the influ­ence of for­eign-born res­i­dents who intro­duced more lav­ish and sophis­ti­cat­ed stan­dards of liv­ing, thus begin­ning a trans­for­ma­tion in Amer­i­can social cus­toms and aspi­ra­tions. The Ocean House, through its “Sat­ur­day evening hops,” played a cen­tral role in the social fab­ric of New­port, offer­ing scenes of gen­teel enter­tain­ment and com­mu­ni­ty gath­er­ings.

The decline of the Ocean House and sim­i­lar estab­lish­ments is seen not just as a loss of build­ings, but as the end of an era marked by sim­plic­i­ty, cul­tur­al aspi­ra­tions, and a sense of com­mu­ni­ty that once defined New­port. The chap­ter reflects on the evo­lu­tion of New­port’s soci­ety, from its pre-pala­tial days to the more opu­lent and extrav­a­gant lifestyles that would fol­low, sig­ni­fy­ing a tran­si­tion in Amer­i­can social his­to­ry that hinged sig­nif­i­cant­ly on changes in taste, leisure, and social gath­er­ings, as epit­o­mized by the sto­ry of the Ocean House.