The Newport Casino, a National Historic Landmark now home to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was built in 1880 as a social club, with its name derived from the Italian la casina, meaning "little house," rather than gambling. Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it is one of the finest examples of American Shingle Style architecture. In 1881, the site hosted the first United States National Lawn Tennis Championships; that tournament moved to New York in 1915 and is now known as the US Open. Because of the site's strong tennis history, Newporter Jimmy Van Alen chose it as the ideal venue for a tennis museum and founded the Hall of Fame there in 1954. Since its inception, tennis's highest honor has been bestowed on just over 250 individuals from more than 20 nations.
