Last spring, masonry restoration work continued on the Bark Pit Greenhouse at the Lyman Estate in Waltham, Massachusetts. The restoration of this important structure has been in the works for years and we are glad that the bark pit will now be a showpiece for the estate and help tell the story of the early […]
Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut, is home to one of Historic New England’s most magnificent gardens. We talked to Roseland Cottage Site Manager Laurie Masciandaro about Roseland’s historic parterre garden, a new pollinator garden, and her work with Connecticut’s Historic Gardens. Roseland Cottage is part of Connecticut’s Historic Gardens, a consortium celebrating the gardens at […]
When is the best time to plant a new tree? Ask any tree lover, and they might dig into the particulars of soil temperature, precipitation patterns, and hardiness zones. Or – they might wax philosophical. “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago,” says a favorite proverb of landscape architects, “and the second-best […]
If you’ve visited our sites this summer, you may have noticed some of our lawns and meadows going au naturel. Our Sustainability Coordinator Joie Grandbois sat down with Supervising Landscape Manager Anthony DeAngelis to talk about how and why we are changing the way we care for our historic landscapes, from no-mow lawns to electrifying […]
This blog post is excerpted from an article by Timothy T. Orwig that appeared in the in the Spring 2014 issue of Historic New England magazine. Orwig, an architectural and social historian, is author of Cape Cod Canal, a photographic history published by Arcadia Publishing and based on Historic New England’s Nina Heald Webber Cape Cod […]
Revere Beach is synonymous with amusements, dance halls, promenading along the oceanfront, and enjoying a day on the shore just north of Boston, Massachusetts. It flourished as a public beach, recreation area, gathering place, and amusement park from the 1840s through the 1970s, when the last rides were demolished for development. Perhaps best put by […]
In England, the term Country House often refers to grand estates of the aristocracy and gentry (think Downton Abbey), but here in New England the country house can be a much smaller affair. A New England country house can certainly be an enormous mansion set among acres of landscaped grounds, but it might also be […]
Two weeks ago, we followed Edmonia Lewis from Ontario to Boston to Rome, where she sought refuge from the racism she experienced in the United States and blossomed as a sculptor. This week, learn more about the community of expat women, artists originally from New England, who welcomed Lewis and supported her talents in Italy. […]
In a celebration of love and community, Sarah Orne Jewett House in South Berwick, Maine, welcomed the LGBTQ+ community and allies for an enchanting evening at its third annual Pride Garden Party. Last week, Historic New England partnered with Seacoast Outright to host the Pride Garden Party on the grounds of Sarah Orne Jewett House. […]
In the first of a two-part series on the world of sculptor Edmonia Lewis, learn how a Black and Indigenous artist rose to prominence in mid-nineteenth century Boston, then fled the stifling social confines of New England to join an all-women expat community in Rome. The neoclassical sculptor Mary Edmonia Wildfire Lewis rose to prominence […]
Meet four pathbreaking interior decorators from prominent New England families whose queerness defied social norms and defined American style in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This summer, Historic New England invites visitors into the private world of four captivating bachelors—men whose homes defined American style from the Gilded to the Jazz Age, yet […]
This Saturday, June 1, all thirty-eight Historic New England sites open their doors to the public for free. But before we jump into another thrilling season packed with tours, programs, events, and community gatherings, let’s take a moment to reflect on how we can keep the spirit of Preservation Month alive year-round. Historic preservation isn’t […]
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