Castle Hill, Ipswich MA

Castle Hill in Ipswich, MA, is a grand estate from what's been termed the Country Place Era, a period ranging from 1890 to 1930. During this time, wealthy families built country estates that included extensive gardens. These estates were only occupied during summer months when families sought to escape the urban heat and crowds. 

Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane manufactured and sold brass goods and plumbing supplies. In 1910, he bought property which would become known as the Crane Estate. Over the next 20 years, he worked with some of America's leading building and landscape architects to build his summer retreat. 

Crane commissioned an Italian Renaissance-style villa, with stucco walls and red tiled roof. It featured hilltop vistas of the Atlantic in an area of the property called Castle Hill and included a farm and estate buildings, designed grounds, gardens, and natural areas. 

Crane hired the Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted (who created Central Park in NYV, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Boston's Emerald Necklace and others), to design the landscaping. By 1912, the Olmsteds had fashioned a series of ornate terraced gardens, with a grass mall or a "Grande Allée" lined with evergreens cascading from the top of the hill straight down to the water nearly half a mile away. It was lined with classical-style statuary at regular intervals, which are still in place today as seen above. 

But his wife, Florence disliked the mansion calling it "cold and drafty." Crane told her that if she would give it 10 years, he would replace it if she felt the same way. 

She did and so the first house on Castle Hill was razed. In 1928 it was replaced with a 59-room mansion that included a main facade in the 17th-century Stuart style, a library with  carvings imported from an English country house, parquet wood flooring, and paneled interior rooms from an 18th-century townhouse in London. 

The mansion or Great House is furnished with period antiques.

An opulent "casino" was built at its midpoint with a saltwater swimming pool, bathhouse, guest cabanas and large indoor ballroom. The pool is long gone and has been filled in, but the white walkway still forms its outline.

Two main gardens, the "Italian Garden" and the "Rose Garden," were filled with plantings, landscaped walkways and fountains. The landscaping remains largely unchanged.

A pair of very large seated griffins (a mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion) grace the entrance to the north terrace overlooking the sea. These were a gift from employees of Crane Co. on completion of the new home.

After the death of Richard Crane, the estate passed to his wife. In 1945, the Crane family donated much of their private beach and dunes to The Trustees of Reservations, a private, non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization. When Florence Crane died in 1949, the remaining property and the mansion, were given to The Trustees, who maintain the property and offer seasonal tours of the historic mansion.

Our visit was on an especially warm day and we agreed that this location was a great summer retreat. Thankfully, it's not for sale, just imagine the upkeep and maintenance!

In recognition of its state of preservation and design, the 165-acre Crane Estate and the Castle Hill mansion were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998.