Boston Flora

Tag: Castle Hill

  • Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6, 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Roaring Twenties Lawn Party

    The Trustees in association with Boston Swing Central will host the Roaring Twenties Lawn Party at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, 290 Argilla Road in Ipswich, for two glittering days on Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6.

    The Lawn Party harkens back to the Jazz Age, the era in which the mansion at Castle Hill was built. The event will feature twenties and thirties jazz, swing dance lessons, Charleston performances, lawn games, a vintage fair, and house tours.

    Attendees are encouraged to come in twenties-style dress and bring a picnic supper or pick up supper from an on-site vendor. Pre-ordered picnic suppers will be available from Ferreira Foods www.ferreirafoods.com.

    Beer, wine, and hard cider vendors will be on hand to quench guests’ thirst. $40 for 1 day, $70 for 2 days (students, seniors, Trustees members $32/$52), children under 10 free. Parking $10 per car. Tickets available at www.roaringtwentieslawnparty.org.

  • Tuesday, April 14, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Tales of Loss & Redemption: The Country House in the National Trust

    From the 1880s through the 1930s, Britain experienced a revolution in land ownership only paralleled in its history by the Norman Conquest and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Britain’s landed elites found themselves under attack by the forces of modernity on all fronts, and their bastions, the country houses, fell to the auction block and the wrecker’s ball in increasing numbers throughout the first half of the 20th century. Into this breach in the fabric of British landed society stepped a reluctant new force of social order, the National Trust. On Tuesday, April 14, at 6 pm, the Royal Oak Foundation’s Executive Director Dr. Sean E. Sawyer will discuss the National Trust’s role in rescuing some of Britain’s greatest country houses and their internationally significant collections of decorative and fine arts. From a reluctant recipient of a handful of houses in the 1920s, the Trust evolved, through its Country Houses Scheme, to lead the way in preserving houses and collections through the bleakest years of the post-World War II era. The last decades of the 20th century saw a revival of fortunes for the country house and the Trust’s adaptation as its role as a leading operator of visitor attractions. This is a story full of deaths, both mortal and material, and of daring rescues and bureaucratic blindness. This illustrated lecture, co sponsored by the Royal Oak Foundation and the Trustees of Reservations, will explore some of the Trust’s most important properties, including Blickling and Hardwick Hall, and of the families and great characters who haunt them still. The lecture will take place at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich. TTOR members $30, nonmembers $40. To register, call 978-356-4351, x 4050.

  • Sunday, December 21, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Dune to Tavern, a Solstice Stroll at the Crane Wildlife Refuge

    Join The Trustees of Reservations for a leisurely hike through the dunes of the Crane Wildlife Refuge in Ipswich to celebrate the winter solstice. On this, the shortest day of the year, we’ll take advantage of the dark with a stroll beneath the stars. We’ll warm up after our walk with hot cider and refreshments in the Tavern at the Inn at Castle Hill: the perfect balance to counteract the bustle of the holiday season! Please note: We will be hiking up and down dunes, through soft sand, for approximately 2½-3 miles. Dress for the weather to maximize comfort and minimize misery! Water is always good to have along. $20 for TTOR members, $25 for nonmembers. Pre-registration required at 978-810-5892, or email dantczak@ttor.org.

  • Friday, November 14, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm – Castle Hill Casino Restoration Seminar

    Friday, November 14, 9:00 am – 3:30 pm – Castle Hill Casino Restoration Seminar

    New England Landscape Design and History Association (NELDHA) and The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) are pleased to collaborate on a Preservation Seminar that focuses on the Casino restoration at the Country Place Era Estate at Castle Hill in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The seminar is on November 14, 2014, at the Great House at Castle Hill from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

    Join them for an in depth program in the Great House with TTOR staff and other professionals who will explain the issues, process and decision making involved. TTOR Northeast Region’s Operations Manager Robert Murray will lead a tour of the restored Casino. After lunch, a distinguished panel will answer questions and discuss issues with a particular emphasis on hardscape, ornamentation and adaptive reuse of this incredible space. The panelists include Robert Murray; Lucinda Brockway, TTOR Program Director for Cultural Resources; James Younger, AIA, LEED AP, TTOR Director of Structural Resources and Technology; Susan Hill Dolan, TTOR Curator and Cultural Resources Specialist for the Northeast Region; Robert Levitre of Consigli Construction, and distinguished landscape architect and preservationist, Marion Pressley, FASLA, and past speaker for the Garden Club of the Back Bay.

    In 2014, TTOR continued the restoration of the grounds at Castle Hill, a National Historic Landmark. This year, 99 years after its creation, the crumbling Casino—the epitome of a Country Place Era estate feature for entertainment and leisure—was restored. The casino was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style by landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff, in collaboration with the Boston architectural firm Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, 1914 – 1915. Although sited on the fabulous grand allee, it is elegantly hidden within the iconic view from the Great House. The Casino predates the existing Great House designed by David Adler, 1924 – 1928. For this project, TTOR used original documentation and materials wherever possible.

    The seminar is $70 for NELDHA members, TTOR members and current students and $85 for non-members. We are offering an early registration discount of $10 for registrations received before October 14, 2014. The Registration & Refund Deadline is November 8, 2014. Space is limited. Visit www.ttor.org to register.

    casino ballroom 1915

  • Friday, April 25 – New England Landscape Design & History Association Annual Reception

    NELDHA’s Annual Reception and Lecture will take place on Friday, April 25, 2014 at the beautiful MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts. The featured speaker will be Lucinda Brockway, Director for Cultural Resources for the The Trustees of Reservations, where she guides the wonderful restoration of the historic gardens at Castle Hill in Ipswich and Naumkeag in Stockbridge. She was an award-winning landscape designer and preservationist, serving a national clientele for twenty-five years before coming to the trustees.

    Through her firm, Past Designs in Kennebunk, Maine, Lucinda’s work included such well-known projects as Fort Ticonderoga’s Jardin du Roi, Newport’s Bellevue Avenue estates, the Battle Green (Lexington, Massachusetts), Villa Finale in San Antonio ,Texas, the Camden Amphitheatre in Maine and several other projects for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her private residential designs won recognition throughout the country. She specialized in designing period-inspired landscapes and gardens featuring both historic and indigenous plants. She is the author of two books, A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers and Gardens of the New Republic.

    Times and ticketing information will be available at www.neldha.org.

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  • Friday, November 30 – Sunday, December 2, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Greening of the Great House: A Winter Festival

    Celebrate the magic of winter as the Great House on Castle Hill is festively decorated by area florists and designers. Enjoy live music, a dance performance, a children’s “Eye Spy,” refreshments, and more at this Winter festival. On Friday evening, make it a date and come for live jazz music and a drink at the cash bar. On Saturday and Sunday, visit the Gift Gallery for distinctive holiday gifts. Please consider bringing an unwrapped gift for our “Giving Sleigh” to benefit needy families through Ipswich Caring. Sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations.  For more information visit www.thetrustees.org/things-to-do/northeast-ma/greening-great.

    Cost: Trustees of Reservations Members: Adult $10; Child $5. Nonmembers: Adult $15; Child $8. Ipswich residents: $5 with proof of residency.

     

  • Castle Hill Grand Allee Landscape Restoration Completed

    The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees)  announced the completion of a three-year, sustainable landscape restoration of the Crane Estate’s “Grand Allée” located on Castle Hill – a National Historic Landmark – in Ipswich. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of talented staff, community partners, donors, and volunteers, The Trustees were able to carefully remove and replant more than 700 deteriorating, overgrown trees; reinvigorate an underground, rainwater collection cistern for sustainable irrigation; and restore the beautiful, classical sculptures lining the undulating, half-mile-long, “front lawn” of the Crane Estate. Since 1949, when the Crane family gifted Castle Hill to The Trustees, the Allée has become a popular and impressive backdrop for open-air concerts, weddings, historic house and landscape tours, community events, a children’s summer camp, and other recreational activities held year-round at the Crane Estate. Now, this signature landscape feature once again sweeps to a panoramic view of Cape Ann and benefits from a healthier, more sustainably managed landscape.

    The Grand Allée is the only known, designed landscape of its size and kind still in existence in North America – and one of only a few remaining worldwide – combining grand scale with decorative arts. It is one of the largest landscape features created by renowned Boston landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff, who is best known for his design of Colonial Williamsburg and the Charles River Esplanade. Shurcliff modeled the dramatic design after the beautiful Italian and French gardens of Renaissance Europe.

    The restoration project was completed in memory of David Crockett, a former member of The Trustees of Reservations’ Board of Governors and Ipswich resident whose tireless efforts on behalf of Castle Hill and the Crane Estate were critical in preserving this property. His commitment to the care of the Crane family’s extraordinary gift to The Trustees set the standard by which the property has been – and will continue to be – privately managed for the public to enjoy. The photo below shows the area circa 1930.

    Caring for the 2,100-acre Crane Estate property is ongoing. Over the years, The Trustees have conducted extensive restoration of other interior and exterior features of the Great House and surrounding landscape features on Castle Hill, including the Bowling Green, which was awarded $50,000 from The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express Partners in Preservation program. The Allée restoration effort, however, represents one of the broadest, most expansive restoration and fundraising efforts ever undertaken on the property. In 2010, The Trustees launched a $2 million dollar campaign to restore this historically significant feature and welcome additional donations to complete the project. All donations are being matched by a generous donor, making individual support go twice as far. To donate, please visit http://www.thetrustees.org/alleeproject.

  • Sunday, May 6, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm – Castle Hill Spring Open House

    In celebration of spring, join The Trustees of Reservation for a free open house at 290 Argilla Road in Ipswich on Sunday, May 6 from 11AM to 4PM. The schedule of events includes lawn games, a May-pole dance, and a family treasure hunt. Castle Hill’s 59-room mansion the Great House will be open for self-guided tours and refreshments.

    Additionally, The Crane Estate’s summer camp SummerQuest will join the fun with their own open house and scheduled camp games. Visitors are welcome to bring a picnic and spend the day. Visitors are asked to please leave furry friends at home. Check on the website, www.thetrustees.org,  or call 978.356.4351 for the day’s complete schedule and additional information.

     

  • Thursday, October 27, 6:00 pm – 4th Annual Sustainable “Farm to Fork” Chef Dinner

    The Trustees of Reservations invite all who are interested to attend The Inn at Castle Hill’s 4th Annual sustainable “Farm to Fork” Chef Dinners, the first of which is being held on October 27th on The Crane Estate in Ipswich, located at 280 Argilla Road. Connection with local foods is a simple but important theme for this year’s series, in which top area Chefs will create a unique blending of the freshest local produce and meats from Appleton Farms.The Pre-fixe Four-Course dinners will be prepared by some of the top chefs in the region who have generously donated their time for this sustainable event series.

    The Thursday dinners will begin with an open bar and the first course of hors d’oeuvre served fireside in the Tavern located next to The Inn at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate at 6 PM, followed by a three-course meal with paired wines served at The Inn at Castle Hill. The event, including tips and taxes, is $125 per person, and features Marco Suarez (below), Executive Chef at Jamaica Plain’s newest neighborhood spot, Canary Square. Seating is limited and reservations are required. Proceeds will go to the ongoing preservation of The Crane Estate.

    Suarez is a member of Mayor Menino’s Urban Agriculture Working Group, which serves as an advisory board to the city on green and sustainable practices. Suarez’ background in urban agriculture plays a significant role in the sourcing and purveying of ingredients and greatly influences his culinary creations. His expertise on sustainability ties in with eco-conscious practices of Canary Square.Suarez began his culinary career washing dishes at a local restaurant in his hometown, Greenwich, Connecticut. After high school, he went on to train at the Culinary Institute of America. At the young age of 25, Suarez earned the top spot at Eastern Standard Kitchen in Kenmore Square. Most recently, Suarez was the Executive Chef at Bon Savor in Jamaica Plain. For reservations and questions, please call The Inn at 978-412-2555. Trustees of Reservations members are being offered a special $99 stay at the Inn on the night of the dinner, subject to availability. Visit www.theinnatcastlehill.com for room details, or to become a TTOR member.

  • Sunday, April 10, 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm – Second Annual Sustainable Seaside Wedding Show

    The Trustees of Reservations invites couples to be wed, event planners, and the surrounding community members to attend their second annual Seaside Wedding Show at The Great House on Castle Hill located on The Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA. A National Historic Landmark, Castle Hill on The Crane Estate is one of the most sought after wedding venues in the Northeast. The elegant architecture, panoramic ocean views, newly restored Grand Allee, manicured landscapes, and award winning Inn at Castle Hill on The Crane Estate, offer a complete wedding package for couples who are looking for a special place to create their wedding memories.

    Attended by over 300 last year, this year’s Seaside Wedding Show will again feature over sixty hand selected vendors who will share their professional expertise, and offer options for choosing an eco-conscious wedding. Attendees will be able to sample food from caterers using local farm produce, learn about ways to conserve resources from florists who use biodegradable materials and locally grown flowers, select design companies offering invitations printed on recycled paper, and view couture gowns made of natural, eco-fabrics or locally manufactured. Guests will learn how to create their ideal wedding day from food to spa luxuries, and choose sustainable options at the same time. Better choices for the planet, better choices for current and future generations. Join TTOR in their mission to conserve land for everyone, forever.

    WHERE: Castle Hill on The Crane Estate is located at 290 Argilla Road in Ipswich, MA. For directions and or more information, please visit www.craneestate.org or call 978-356-4351 ext. 4025.  Purchase tickets at www.craneestate.org to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE drawing: two glorious nights at The Inn at Castle Hill on The Crane Estate (an over $900 value).Visit www.theinnatcastlehill.com for more information. Tickets: $5 for Trustees members; $10 for non-members; and $15 for all at the door.