historic homes

Anonymous $300,000 Gift Helps Edith Wharton's Historic Home

We've been watching The Mount, the historic Massachusetts home of author Edith Wharton, for the last couple years as it has struggled to stay open amid deep debt. The historic home even faced foreclosure a few years back but it seems that each time the home ends up in trouble, donors and foundations step in to help out, a testament to the enduring fondness for both the writer and this beautiful home. The Mount recently received a $300,000 gift from an anonymous local donor recently after an article in the Berkshire Eagle mentioned that the Mount is facing a $1 million debt repayment deadline in May 2011. A blog post on The Mount website states that the donor regards The Mount as a national treasure and hopes others will also step up to help. The Mount's year-end appeal raised over $350,000.

The Mount is located in the Berkshires area of Massachusetts which relies on summer tourism for its local museums and estates. The Mount is part of the "American Icons" admission program which lets visitors purchase special package deal tickets to four cultural institutions: Chesterwood and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, The Mount and Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock. Chesterwood was the summer home of sculptor Daniel Chester French. The Berkshires area is also the home of Tanglewood, the summer venue for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Gallery: Edith Wharton's The Mount

Tags: berkshires, edith wharton, historic homes, the mount

Rockland Estate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Concierge Auctions is back in Maryland for another beautiful old home. The historic Rockland estate in Fairplay, Maryland goes up for sale on June 11.

The 25-plus-acre equestrian estate was originally listed for $2.75 million. The property includes a 8,600-square-foot mansion as well as a turnkey horse farm with fenced pastures. The current owners Michael Moreland and Jason Daisey purchased the property in 2004 and have completed many modern infrastructure improvements to the main mansion, which was originally built in 1803, including installing central air conditioning, remodeling the kitchen, and constructing a 3,000-bottle wine cellar in one of the basement rooms. The stone home was built by Colonel Frisby Tilghman, son of Maryland's first attorney general and the home is listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Sites and is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Victorian enhancements were made to the home in the later part of the 19th century. It has a Federal-style suspended staircase in the south wing leading from the ground floor to the third floor attic and illuminated by an oval skylight.

This home was originally listed for $2.75 million but is selling with a reserve of $1.325 million and a pre-sale estimate of $1.325 million to $1.8 million. The sale is being conducted in cooperation with Gary Gestson, a certified Historic Property Specialist with Long & Foster Real Estate.

Gallery: Rockland Estate

Tags: concierge, estate of the day, historic home, historic homes, luxury real estate auction, maryland real estate

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Richwood Hall, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's estate is about as historic as you can get. Richwood Hall near Charles Town, West Virginia in on some of the land that once belonged to George Washington who gave to his brother, Samuel Washington. The Washington family kept it until 1802. During the Civil War, Confederate forces under the command of General Jubal A. Early fired from Richwood Hall at Union forces under Sheridan at Locust Hill.

The home is on 37 acres of horse country and includes woods and gardens as well as the original smokehouse, barns, tennis court, pool and a caretaker's cottage. The home has been enlarged in multiple segments over the last couple hundred years. The original home is anchored by a hearth which dates back to around 1750. The main house was built in 1825 and has a formal sitting room, dining room and a grand staircase. The current owner restored the original wings and then added a new modern wing in 2003 so that the home has modern features like an eat-in kitchen and a gym. It now has five bedrooms. This home is listed at $4.2 million.

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Gallery: Richwood Hall