Calling All Estate Tour Lovers, Answer This Question

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Sep 18th 2009 at 10:01AM

Do you love house tours? I do and so does one of our readers who has asked about great estate tours in New England. I can think of a few, which are listed below, but I'm hoping you will weigh in too with suggestions in the comments.

Hammond Castle in Gloucester, Massachusetts is a medieval style castle built in Gloucester, Massachusetts during the 1920s. This is one of those homes that only ego, imagination and unbridled wealth could create. It's open as a museum and includes displays of armor. This unique property is only open on weekends.

The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, is the home of Edith Wharton and offers a great look not just at a writer's home but at classic American style. The home and grounds are open for tours.

Nearby The Mount is Ventfort Hall, shown above, an Elizabethan Revival mansion that showcases Gilded Age style in Lenox, Massachusetts. Sarah, the sister of J. Pierpont Morgan, purchased the property in 1891, and hired Rotch & Tilden, prominent Boston architects, to design the house in the most lavish of styles.

Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts is one of the most beautiful examples of the Federal period in Massachusetts architecture. The historic house and estate of Massachusetts Governor Christopher Gore has been "the Monticello of the North" and offers tours and a variety of special programs.

In scenic Newburyport, the Cushing House Museum is open for tours from May 12, 2009 through October 31, 2009. The rooms showcase collections of silver, furniture, portraits, clocks, needlework and more. The grounds include a 19th century garden, an herb garden, fruit trees, a summer house, cobbled yard and carriage house.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Spectacular Bid Sep 18th 2009 10:38AM

The Mount in Lenox, MA has in the last decade really been a fantastic transition few would've thought possible. In 2010 purportedly they will stage another decorator showcase in the house. In its largely empty state it is still fantastic - especially seeing it emerge while going down the private approach drive - but fully decorated it really comes alive.

While the tour may have changed in the last couple of years at 'Ventfort Hall' (Lenox, MA) - best known as the orphanage in the 1999 movie The Cider House Rules - I just cannot recommend doing the tour. It was costly and what was visible to the public was exceedingly limited. The second floor was off-limits and what you could tour of the first floor was just a fraction of the actual space. I'm all for helping fund money via tours to save and expand but this was a bit of highway robbery for me.

A far better tour in that area is in nearby Stockbridge, MA with the magnificent 'Naumkeag' owned and operated by the Trustees of Reservations. The summer home of Amb. Joseph Hodges Choate is one of the finest shingle-style homes done by McKim, Mead & White and occupies a lovely hillside setting. The house can be fully explored and is fully furnished with the original contents. Visiting the Berkshires and skipping this tour is a bit of a crime.

For Vermont I'd add viewing 'Hildene' in Manchester which was the estate of Robert Todd Lincoln - the President's eldest son. Also for architecture tour 'Shelburne Farms' in Shelburne although the mannor house is used as an Inn and not as per say open for tours.