Castle Hill on the Crane Estate: A Gilded Age Treasure

the Grand Allée

Castle Hill is one of New England’s Gilded Age estates that features gorgeous period gardens. It is part of the spectacular Crane Estate, which encompasses more than 2,100 acres overlooking Ipswich Bay on the North Shore of Massachusetts. The Estate comprises three properties: Castle Hill, the National Historic Landmark mansion with gardens; Crane Beach, a beautiful public beach; and the Crane Wildlife Refuge, a natural treasure boasting many rare plant and animal species.

Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr., and his wife, Florence, first purchased the property in 1910. He was captivated by the natural beauty of the landscape, with its with miles of salt marshes, tidal rivers, sand dunes, and beaches. Crane worked with eight leading architects and landscape architects to create his summer retreat. The grand 59-room, Stuart-style mansion that you see today designed by world-renowned architect David Adler, and built in 1928. A pair of Art Deco griffins given to Crane by his employees upon completion of his new house, graced the entrance to the north terrace overlooking the sea.

During its heyday the estate was quite self-sufficient. The Cranes raised livestock and maintained root cellars, vegetable gardens, and orchards with the help of 60 or so gardeners. An on-site 134,000-gallon underground cistern supplied water (it’s now back in use), and a coal-fired power plant supplied electricity.

photo courtesy of the trustees.

Although the mansion was formal in style, the estate was designed for fun and entertaining. For eight idyllic weeks each summer, the Cranes enjoyed their paradise with lavish picnics, parties, and boat trips. The property included a maze, a log cabin playhouse, a bowling green, tennis court, billiard room, walking paths, deer park, golf course, and the sand beach.

Castle Hill’s formal gardens have been restored to their original beauty. The Italian Garden, designed by the Olmsted Brothers, was Florence Crane’s favorite. This hidden oasis features colorful perennial beds enclosed by walls and terraces. Two octagonal teahouses are linked by a pergola on one end, and a columned balcony above a fountain and pool encloses the other end.

Mrs. Crane and guests touring the rose garden. photo courtesy of the trustees.

Across the drive, stands of rhododendrons veiled the gate to the circular rose garden designed by Shurcliff in 1914. Marblehead rosarian Harriett Risley Foote, one of the leading rose specialists in the country, selected the roses for this garden. Once the home of 12,000 rosebushes of 600 varieties displayed in four curving beds and on an immense wooden pergola, this garden has been transformed to a contemporary herbaceous border.

In 1915 Arthur Shurcliff added the Grand Allée, a half-mile long, 160-foot wide stretch of lawn, bordered by two rows of evergreens and classical statuary. An Italianate “Casino Complex” tucked into the allée’s first hillside had a courtyard with a saltwater swimming pool that was bookended by two villas: one housing a ballroom, the other providing “bachelors’ quarters” for the young men who visited. In Italian gardens, the “casino” simply meant “small house” and was often the name for the summer house. The Casino Complex was restored in 2016, and now offers a trimmed lawn for croquet (the pool had been filled in long before), and a new brick terrace with marble statues and comfortable chairs and tables. The Grand Allée was restored in 2012, with 700 trees planted to replace old and storm-damaged ones.

The Crane Family. Photo courtesy of the trustees.

Sadly, Richard Crane died of a heart attack in 1931, so he enjoyed his house for a very short time. In 1945, the family gave 1,000 acres of beach and dunes to The Trustees of Reservations in his memory. Florence Crane continued to spend summers at Castle Hill until her death in 1949. She bequeathed an additional 350 acres and the mansion to The Trustees, who maintain it to this day. Within the last 15 years, about $6 million has been invested in capital improvements. Two Crane  granddaughters reside in Ipswich and remain involved with the property.

Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, 290 Argilla Rd., Ipswich, MA 01938, (978) 356-4351, thetrustees.org/castlehill