Touisset, which borders the Kickemuit River and Mount Hope Bay, is not the easiest place to find in Warren. The downtown, with its busy main street and bustling business district, is better known and more accessible. A visit to Touisset requires a trip along twisting country roads bordered by large oak trees and old stone walls. It’s not an unpleasant experience.

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Touisset, Warren

The neighborhood’s roots as farmland and the home of early 20th-century summer residences are still in ample evidence. Farm stands and grazing cows dot the landscape along Long Lane and Barton Road, and historic cottages and waterfront estates share the land nearest the river and the bay. The neighborhood has a quiet, relaxed feel.

Mary Solecki-Steege grew up in Newport, but she had never even heard of Touisset until she attended a party there in 1984 with her ex-husband. At the time, they were living in an apartment on strip-malled Metacom Avenue, and she remembers being charmed and surprised by Touisset’s rural beauty.

“I was just shocked. This was Warren?” she said.

The couple bought a house in Touisset Highlands, and Solecki-Steege still lives there today, with husband Dave Steege and their son. Solecki-Steege still remembers the interest rate on her first mortgage: 14.875 percent.

Touisset is no longer a summer community. Most residents live there year-round, Steege said. But there is no public water and sewer service in the Touisset section. Well water and private septic systems are the rule.

“The neighbors really do look out for each other,” Steege said. Because Touisset is a bit off the beaten track, strangers are noticed when they drive into the neighborhood, he said.

Greg and Lucy Floor live in an 1890 farmhouse in Touisset with their two young daughters. Both are from Bristol, but they were drawn to Touisset for its country atmosphere and because the house they bought was so affordable.

It was affordable in part because it needed a lot of work, and it had been used for years as a two-family residence. Greg Floor, who works for a construction company, has completely renovated the house and made it a single-family home again. During the renovation, he discovered some fine woodwork that had been hidden when the house was converted into a two-family. Floor also used salvaged materials in his craftsman-quality restoration.

An abandoned slaughterhouse can be seen behind the Floors’ house on Touisset Road. Cattle used to be raised on the farm, the Floors said.

The landowners recently sold off some acreage across from the Floors’ house, and large new Colonials are being built there by Meridian Custom Homes. There will be nine new houses; six are already built, but all nine have been sold, at prices in the high 400s and low 500s.

Touisset Road is also the home of the 66-acre Touisset Marsh Wildlife Refuge. A trail from the Touisset Fire station leads through fields to the Kickemuit River.

House prices in Touisset are generally higher than in other parts of Warren, where the median single-family house price last year was $298,250. Prices for Touisset houses available on the state’s Multiple Listing Service recently ranged from $369,000 to $2.7 million.

cdunn@projo.com / (401) 277.7913

POPULATION:

(Warren, 2000) 11,360

MEDIAN SALES PRICE:

(Warren, 2005) $298,250

PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

Hugh Cole Elementary School

Kickemuit Middle School

Mount Hope High School

INTERESTING FACT:

The Touisset Country Club is in neighboring Swansea, but Warren’s Touisset has its own community club for neighborhood residents.