A couple sold their Providence estate. Now they want it back from the buyer. Here’s why.

Who owns Providence's last genuine estate? It depends on whom you ask.

The answer aside, the sprawling structure at 460 Rochambeau Ave. is, objectively, eye-popping.

The 3.6-acre plot holds a more than 9,000-square-foot manor. And at more than 1,900 square feet, the carriage house that accompanies the mansion is nearly the size of an average single-family home.

Rebecca and Newton Howard purchased the Spanish Colonial Revival estate on the spot when they saw it in 2015, exactly a century after its construction. But following a contentious auction that, for the Howards, was a disaster, the ownership fell into dispute. To the dismay of some locals, the property could be given to the auction winner, local developer Dustin Dezube, who might turn it into condos.

Sound familiar? That's because The Providence Journal has covered Dezube in the past, reporting on complaints from his tenants, who have been angered by maintenance woes, leaks and mold. Dezube has pushed back against their criticisms and now hopes he can be part of the future of something much bigger than an apartment building: the old Clara and William Bridgham estate.

Who are the Howards? And why do they want their house back?

Today, the Howards live in Washington, D.C. They run their namesake Howard Brain Sciences Foundation, focused on research of neurodegenerative diseases, and also a startup, ni2o, which develops medical devices using Newton's technology.

Newton is, in short, a brainiac. With five Ph.D.s, he holds appointments at Oxford and Georgetown universities and once ran an artificial intelligence lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Google his name and you'll find a New York Times article about a neighborhood brouhaha sparked by statues of the sci-fi "Transformers" characters outside his Georgetown home.

So the fight over the Rochambeau estate isn't exactly the Howards' first rodeo. Though this time, it involves litigation.

Since April 2022, Newton and Dezube have been in court jockeying for control of the estate, with the Howards arguing that the auction was nothing like what they imagined.

Here's how it happened, according to Rebecca: The Howards, not considering Providence a home base, decided to sell the estate through real estate agency Mott & Chace. But more than a year passed and it wasn't selling.

"Then they brought this idea to us," Rebecca said. "How about a luxury auction company?"

An auction promised to get the Howards a great deal. They feel duped.

Enter Concierge Auctions. As Rebecca put it, the auction house talked a big game about jacking up the price and advertising around the world, from Europe to Dubai and New York – all with preservation in mind – an important factor to the Howards, who want to see the estate kept as it is.

"They didn’t follow through on all those promises," Rebecca said, calling the roughly $4 million selling price "much, much lower" than market value.

To make matters worse, Rebecca said, she and Newton were in the dark when it came to knowing about potential buyers.

"We weren’t fully aware of everybody who was bidding and certainly didn’t know that Mr. Dezube was who he was," she said, adding: "The whole process really felt a little forced. … They really pushed us and convinced us the outcome was going to be great."

Though Dezube bought the estate, the sale hasn't been closed, and the ownership remains in dispute between both sides, plus Concierge Auctions.

Concierge Auctions did not reply to a request for comment, and Mott & Chace declined to comment.

Now, neighbors want to know what will become of the estate, worrying that Dezube will redevelop the land.

Neighbors don't want Dezube in their backyards. He wants a chance.

Despite the high fences and climbing shrubs that surround the property, at times concealing it from public view, certain neighbors have taken a keen interest in how it might look should it fall into Dezube's hands.

David Udris and his wife, who asked not to be named in this story, have become strident advocates for the estate's preservation. The couple, whose home on Cole Avenue abuts the Rochambeau property, befriended the Howards during their time there.

"Once we got to know the new owners, the first thing [my wife] and I did was have them over … and said we need to protect this property," Udris recalled.

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Then, once Dezube purchased the estate, he approached Udris' home, attempting to speak with his wife about plans for the property. As Dezube recalled, she refused to talk to him.

Dezube insists that there is no concrete plan for redeveloping the property. However, he had renderings of a potential development created about a year ago, although the ownership remains in dispute.

The Providence Journal reviewed drawings that show modern condos ranging from two to three stories high. Dezube showed those images to Robert Azar, deputy director of the Department of Planning and Development, "and a few members of the Planning Department team during an informal discussion more than a year ago," according to Michaela Antunes, director of communications for economic development.

The Providence Preservation Society said it was familiar with the images, too.

Dezube said those drawings are more than a year old, and he offered a more recent design he considered in 2022.

While he's collected architectural designs, Dezube emphasized to The Journal that if he wins ownership of the estate, he will host a community meeting to hear what locals think should be done with the property, calling it a "sensitive project."

"It could remain a single family, be turned into condos, there could be part of it that’s preserved as a public park or garden," Dezube said, adding that there are "a lot of different possibilities, and I am very open to exploring them in the form of a community meeting."

Could the estate become an arts and cultural foundation? It's a long shot.

Holly Gaboriault lives in the city's Summit neighborhood, but she has found herself deeply invested in the estate's future.

Gaboriault, who teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design, said she descended into a "large-size rabbit hole" after the estate caught her eye, and she began researching. With help from her boyfriend, who dug through the annals of Ancestry.com, Gaboriault learned about the family of Clara and William Bridgham, who built the estate.

William had worked in metalsmithing in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and attended both RISD and the Cleveland School of Art. Along the way, he met and married Clara, a lumber heiress. Both artists, they hosted the public at their estate from time to time, allowing them to seek inspiration from the property or find a quiet moment to read or draw.

“It’s got a spirit about it that when you walk onto that property, there’s something about the trees, the landscape … there’s something about it that would be an amazing resource and a gift back to the community," Gaboriault said.

According to Gaboriault, William so loved the estate that the casket in which he is buried is a replica of the property, which he fashioned himself.

Gaboriault had been interested in fundraising to purchase the property so that it could be preserved as an arts and cultural foundation, though the plan never got off the ground.

Another preservation effort ground to a halt by tragedy

As yet another effort to save the estate, advocates for its preservation had collaborated with City Councilwoman Helen Anthony to propose that the City Plan Commission grant the property a historic district overlay. That could protect it from exterior changes or a demolition. Yet that work came to a swift halt when an ATV struck Anthony during a visit to California, putting her in intensive care with serious injuries. She is expected to return to work this fall, but the exact date is unclear. She did not return The Journal's request for comment.

More: This piece of Providence history just sold for $4.3 million. Take a look inside.

Meanwhile, the Providence Preservation Society has accepted that the estate probably won't stay the same.

Adriana Hazelton, the society's advocacy manager, said it is open to seeing development of the property. She also acknowledged that "keeping the property as a single-family residence is unlikely."

"We also want to ensure that whatever development occurs on that site is done as sensitively and responsibly as possible," Hazelton added. "The current plan as we understand it incorporates the preservation of the existing property and other extant features, which is a positive step in the right direction from a preservation and environmental perspective. A balanced, thoughtful mixture of new construction and preservation is possible."

Is the estate at 460 Rochambeau that the Bridghams knew destined to become a memory? Maybe.

David Cohen is familiar with the feeling. As a neighbor who lives on Cole Avenue, Cohen lives in a home that was built in 1959, the same year that part of the historic Bodell estate was demolished to make room for new housing.

"I remember dearly the demolition of the lovely brick mansion," Cohen said.

Whatever happens now, Cohen hopes the Bridgham estate won't change too much.

"My concern," Cohen said, "is something gets built on the Rochambeau property that bastardizes the nice private dwellings in the neighborhood here."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 1915 Providence estate eyed for redevelopment sparks custody battle