Boston architects Perkins & Betton designed Newport’s Beaux Arts-style Telephone Building in the late 19th century in the city’s burgeoning downtown. A century later, it has a new role having been converted into a multi-family home – with potential for rental income.

Palladian-style flourishes to the 7,988 sq ft building’s brick and limestone facade include a handsome double-arched window, and there is a number of arched and sash windows across the Newport property.

The three-bedroom owner’s unit occupies the main portion of the building, and its interiors blend new with old: think rugged iron columns, arched and sash windows, mouldings as well as exposed brick, hardwood floors, soaring ceilings and cement tile inserts.

Pops of colour come via furniture and cabinetry, casually zoning rooms in the open-plan main floor.

A separate one-bedroom property with roof deck access is above the main home, and there’s a two-bedroom apartment, complete with hardwood and polished concrete floors, and a private garden, on the first floor of the building. Think ‘granny-flat’ and guest accommodation – or rental property income for the new owner.

Kate Rooney and Michelle Drum of Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty have the exclusive, with the Telephone Building listed for $2.995m.

A San Francisco loft with shipping container rooms lists for $5.55m