HOME: A look inside Broadway’s storied Wedding Cake House

Bought by sisters Anna and Laura Tirocchi in 1915, the house became the new home of A&L Tirocchi Gowns, the sisters’ successful bespoke clothing business, attracting Providence’s wealthiest women as customers. After Anna’s death in 1947, the house sat vacant and then abandoned until it was given a new lease on life in 2017 thanks to the efforts of feminist arts not-for-profit organization Dirt Palace and its founders, Xander Marro and Pippi Zornoza, and the many artists and volunteers who contributed to its revitalization.

Restoration of the old house has been sensitively executed: original furnishings were preserved wherever possible, while contemporary work mixes thoughtfully with what remains. For example, the tiling around the fireplace in the Innkeeper’s quarters uses Eastlake-style tiles from the 1860s featuring blowsy roses, birds, and butterflies in flight that mix with new creations by trans queer Jewish artist Nicki Green, who incorporates Hebrew text and sacred symbols into her work as a means of questioning received ideas about belonging and otherness.

Another notable installation is in Room 2 on the second floor: a photograph by Rue Sakayama of the house mid-restoration, hung over a preserved wall showing the layers of wallpaper stripped during the renovation – a clever testament to the many histories underlying the house’s current iteration. Patchwork wallpaper by Jim Drain in a nearby nook references the

Printed on pattern-dot paper, Lu Heintz’ wallpaper is a nod to the home’s history

complex piecing of custom garments that took place in the workrooms of the house, while upstairs, wooden window guards by multimedia artist Kristina L. Brown cleverly echo the distinctive pointed shapes of windows in the third floor and tower. In the resident reading room – the Tirocchi workers’ former sewing room – wallpaper designed by Lu Heintz borrows from period photographs and deconstructed garment patterns, printing them onto pattern-dot paper that present-day sewers use to scale their creations.

These days, the Wedding Cake House hosts artists’ residencies, neighborhood open houses, and a popular Airbnb: the perfect place to put up friends and family visiting the Creative Capital. Miranda Zhen-Yao, artist in residence and pro tem innkeeper from Mondays to Wednesdays, helps to create a warm and welcoming environment in the historic home (hardworking founders Marro and Zornoza, and Zhen-Yao for the remainder

Hebrew letters infuse the work of Nicki Green with symbolism of every week). Prospective overnight guests are urged to visit the Wedding Cake House Airbnb site to explore the available rooms, including a bedroom whose closet is a former elevator shaft featuring a seven-foot stained glass window, and other spectacular rooms featuring private claw-foot tubs and artwork grounded in the history of the house. If you haven’t been inside yet, make attending an open house or booking a room your first priority: the building is a monument to the talent of the many women, immigrants, and artists who made our city great.

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Learn even more about the Wedding Cake House, Dirt Palace, and interesting spots around the city.

BE IN THE KNOW N.B. Miranda’s term as innkeeper ends in April of 2023, and the Wedding Cake House team is looking for her successor. Interested? Apply online at DirtPalace.org.

WINDOW DRESSING At the intersection of Plainfield Street and Manton Avenue, AKA Olneyville Square, find The Dirt Palace Storefront Window Gallery. Since 2000, this public art project has showcased the talent of hundreds of local, national, and international artists, community groups, and youth arts programming. Monthly rotating exhibits are free and on view 24/7.

ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST Find additional information about the Kendrick-Prentice-Tirocchi House and many other historic properties by visiting the Providence Preservation Society online at PPSRI.org

Want your home featured in Providence Monthly? Email Elyse@ProvidenceOnline.com to learn more Photo by Julia Barber