‘Home Sweet Home’ event opens 9 historic houses for free tours
This weekend The Trustees of Reservations is celebrating its 125th birthday, along with participating in National Preservation Month.
And because of these simultaneous events, the local nonprofit conservation organization wants you to visit some of its historic properties. The “Home Sweet Home” event will open up nine properties around Massachusetts for free on Saturday, May 21. Of the nine properties, five are National Historic Landmarks.
The Trustees will offer guided and self-guided tours, activities, games, and refreshments. You can visit the website to get times and details of all the events at each house, but here is a breakdown of a few of the most impressive homes involved and why they are historic.
Now a National Historic Landmark, The Old Manse was built in the Georgian clapboard style in 1770 for patriot minister William Emerson. The home “became the center of Concord’s political, literary, and social revolutions over the course of the next century,” with famous transcendentalists Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller visiting from time to time. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne also both lived here for periods of time.
The Great House at Castle Hill, Ipswich
Richard T. Crane bought this property in 1910 and subsequently built an Italian Renaissance Revival villa that was later razed in 1928. The Cranes then replaced their former home with a 59-room Stuart-style mansion that you can see today, which is still furnished with period pieces. Castle Hill is also known for its wide array of wildlife, such as deer, fox, turkey, and songbirds.
The Folly at Field Farm, Williamstown
The newest historic home of the nine, The Folly at Field Farm was built in 1965 by Ulrich Franzen, a famous post-modern architect. The three-bedroom cottage sits on 316 acres of land that also houses the Guest House at Field Farm, which is a bed and breakfast.

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