“This six-acre site and it’s two banquet halls” were designed to accommodate weddings and similar large functions regularly,” says Ben Gathright, marketing director for Tappe Associates, Inc., the architectural firm hired to renovate Belle Mer, near the scenic port town of Newport, Rhode Island. “For the renovations of the two existing buildings, a large addition and extensive site improvements, the client wished to leverage the surrounding natural beauty by blurring the line between interior and exterior space.”