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Fire station turned four-story home has a functional fire pole for $3.5M

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Complete with eco-friendly touches

By Megan Barber
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An exterior view of a red brick building with large red door that was formally a fire house and is now a home. Photos by Clint Clemens

Conversion homes are some of the most interesting real estate to ogle, whether it’s a former barn turned farmhouse or a historic church transformed into lofts. The latest converted house to catch our eye is this four-bedroom, three-bath home in Newport, Rhode Island.

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The imposing brick building started life in 1887 as a fire station in the Historic Hill neighborhood. Redwood Hose Station 8 was an active fire station until 1912, after which the house functioned as an upholstery shop and then a triplex apartment. According to Rhode Island Monthly, in 2006 new owners realized that the building’s mortar was crumbling. A subsequent three-year renovation involved tearing the house down brick by brick and putting the home back together from the ground up.

Boston-based architect David Hacin worked on the design, converting the sprawling structure into a livable three-floor residence with a two-bedroom guest suite. Hacin incorporated subtle nods to the home’s fire house history, but also focused on adding green technologies to make the residence more eco-friendly; the house features a geothermal heating system with an 850-foot well, nine-foot windows for passive solar energy, and radiant floors made from sustainable wood.

A living room with piano, leather couch, and a small white desk. There’s a pool table in the background.
The home’s first floor features a cozy living room and a pool room with trademark fire engine red doors.

The lower level of the home serves as a pseudo “Club House,” with a family room, large fire-engine red doors, and pool table. A two-story sliding pole links the first floor to the second floor above, where you’ll find a kitchen with Carrera marble countertops and a built-in breakfast nook.

The sleek master suite takes up the third floor, and the large bathroom comes with double vanities and a freestanding tub. But the best part of the home is a rooftop deck—located just off of the master bedroom—that offers views of the Channing Memorial Church and Newport Harbor. Love what you see? After a brief stint on the market in 2019 asking $4,700,000, 118 Prospect Hill Street is now priced at $3,495,000.

A living room has a white fluffy rug, gray couch, sheer window dressings, and a brass fireman’s pole in the corner.
The second-floor features a brass fireman’s pole that drops down to the lower level.
A view from a staircase looking up to a home’s skylight.
A central skylight provides plenty of light down through the home’s staircase foyer.
A fireman’s pole goes down into a lower floor with a gray rug and pool table.
The view from the fire pole as it descends to the game room down below.
A steel staircase descends into a wooden kitchen area.
The staircase lowers to the second floor, where you’ll find a kitchen and lounging area.
A bedroom has retractable doors that open to a rooftop patio with a spiral staircase and trees.
The master suite takes up the entire third floor of the house, and includes a rooftop deck with retractable doors and a spiral staircase.
A rooftop view shows the skyline of Newport, Rhode Island, with church steeples, trees, homes, a pool, and a harbor with boats in the distance.
From the top of the home, you can see the steeple of the Channing Memorial Church and boats in Newport Harbor.

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