PORTSMOUTH — Timothy Wordell stood inside a second-floor bedroom inside the large Victorian situated on the east side of Bristol Ferry Road, just south of the Mt. Hope Bridge.

“This is where Sarah J. Eddy painted her portrait of Susan B. Anthony, for her 80th birthday,” said Mr. Wordell, the general contractor who’s leading efforts to restore the 1910, three-story home where one of Portsmouth’s most prominent citizens lived.

Ms. Eddy, a renowned artist and photographer, was also a suffragette, philanthropist and a founder of the Rhode Island Humane Society. Before she died in Portsmouth in 1945 at the age of 93, the grand Victorian at 567 Bristol Ferry Road was her home. 

Mr. Wordell, a Little Compton native, owns the East Greenwich-based Z&D LLC, which specializes in remodels and custom construction. During a walk-through of the property last week, he said the renovation project is intended to update the building for modern living while still preserving much of its past glory.

“It’s a nice, modern-meets-classic project,” he said.

Sometime after Ms. Eddy died, the house was turned into a five-unit tenement home that sat abandoned for five years before a limited-liability company including Mr. Wordell’s father-in-law, Russell DeSimone, purchased it in 2015.

“It was dilapidated,” Mr. Wordell said. “We’ve repaired the entire home. Now we have three very beautiful condos, two bedrooms each. We’ve brought it back and surpassed its natural beauty, I think. It was zoned a five-family originally, so we actually brought it down to three. We made it what they call a layer cake — every (unit) on top of each other.”

The first floor (1,800 square feet) is being listed at $575,000, while the second (1,700 square feet) and third (1,400 square feet) floors are going for $550,000 and $400,000, respectively. Caroline Cooper with The Fitzpatrick Team is the listing agent.

Landscapers, masons, electricians, carpenters and other laborers — a crew of 50 to 60  — has been working furiously to get the home ready for occupancy, which Mr. Wordell said should be within three weeks. 

“Everyone around here has been very supportive; the neighbors have been wonderful. It’s a good, committed crew made up mostly of locals from the island. It has definitely been a very intense three months of solid work. We’re about three weeks to finish, and we’ve been having very successful open houses,” he said.

Six more condos in three separate units are being planned for the back of the property, which is just under four acres. Mr. Wordell hopes to have those completed in about a year. 

Keeping history alive

Mr. Wordell said he enjoyed learning about Ms. Eddy and the property’s history while working on the project.

“This property, in 1897, used to have 300 acres with it. Down by the river, she had a studio,” he said, referring to the “Social Studio” on the west side of Bristol Ferry Road that invited artists and lecturers and was visited by Julia Ward Howe. “She actually was trying to encourage women to start doing things such as sculpting, pottery, painting. A gentleman who showed up at an open house last night was actually in this house when he was a child and he remembers Sarah J. and the studio. She passed away on his 10th birthday.”

To ensure Ms. Eddy isn’t forgotten, a tribute to her is being planned for the common area in the first-floor entrance. It will feature replicas of portraits she did of Susan B. Anthony and African-American social reformer Frederick Douglass. The originals are hanging in the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, respectively, in Washington, D.C.

Wherever possible, the renovation incorporated some original touches from Ms. Eddy’s home: the solid mahogany main door, some of the stained glass, hand-carved mahogany mantels, metal grates, natural window openings and more.

But make no mistake: The new owners will have every luxury of modern living: large bathrooms; custom-made, walk-in closets and nooks for extra storage; high-end appliances in the kitchens; and washer/dryer units on each floor.

“Most of the integrity was kept; we just updated everything with high-end materials, utilities. Everything is energy-efficient,” Mr. Wordell said.

Each unit will also have a private exit to a patio area in the back, where residents will have their own grill station along with a fire pit.

“It’s a very grand patio,” said Mr. Wordell. “There is a good amount of land in the back, if you have kids or pets to play. It’s an association; the whole property will be under Bristol Ferry Road LLC, which is myself and my investors.”

The landscaping that fronts Bristol Ferry Road has many admirers. Mr. Wordell said the cobblestones came from a 300-year-old driveway in Newport. “I snatched up all 2,000 cobblestones and utilized 1,550 in the front and 450 in the back,” he said.

Giving back

Within the next six months, Mr. Wordell plans to start up a scholarship for Portsmouth High School students, something he’s already done at Middletown High.  

“It’s a $5,000 annual scholarship for tradesmen that I donate from my company. We’re doing Portsmouth as appreciation for their support on the project,” said Mr. Wordell, who’s proud of the positive feedback he’s received so far.

“We’re trying to get it to the point where we restore its beauty for the town, because everybody is very proud and happy to drive by this,” he said. “It’s an amazing story and (Ms. Eddy) was an amazing person.”