[Two years ago
this week, I moved to my new home in Waltham,
Massachusetts. Since then I’ve learned a lot more about the histories and
stories of this great town, and wanted to share a few of them this week,
leading up to a Guest Post from one of my favorite Walthamites!]
On AmericanStudies
connections for three of Waltham’s most historic houses.
In my Waltham
experience, Gore Place (or rather its
spacious grounds) provided the spot on which the boys and I enjoyed our second
visit to Circus Smirkus. But the estate of Massachusetts
Governor Christopher Gore, built in 1806 as a summer home for Gore and his
wife Rebecca and then turned into the couple’s permanent year-round home after
1816, has a lot to offer even when the circus isn’t in town. Known as the “Monticello
of the North,” the estate’s house in particular is widely considered one of the
most significant Federal
Period mansions, and as a result of its architectural prominence has been designated a
National Historic Landmark. I’ve wondered elsewhere
in this space about whether preserving such historic homes is worth the
effort and expense required—and of the many arguments in favor of such
preservation, helping record our evolving
architectural history, and thus the cultural and social elements to which
it connects, is a particularly potent one.
In my Waltham
experience, the Lyman
Estate has stood out for its amazing historic
greenhouses—I happened to discover the estate and greenhouses on the course
of a daily summertime walk, and have returned a few times since to explore and
enjoy their exotic offerings. The country estate, known as “The Vale,” has
likewise received National
Historic Landmark status for its exemplary Federal Period house and
grounds. But while Gore Place has remained relatively static since its early 19th
century origins, the Lyman Estate has substantially
evolved across the two and a quarter centuries since its construction, and
each stage, and the Lymans to whom it connects, represents an interesting
window into American history. For example, the most recent renovations were
undertaken by Arthur Lyman Jr. and his wife Susan Cabot Lyman, as part of the late
19th and early 20th century’s architectural and artistic Colonial
Revival movement. It’s easy, and not at all inaccurate, to think of that
period as one of immense and constant change—but the revival movement
illustrates a concurrent desire to return to the past, one to which the Lyman
Estate can nicely connect us.
In my Waltham
experience, Stonehust, the Robert
Treat Paine estate, has been just a sign and driveway along the back road I
drive to my apartment complex. Which is, it turns out, a perfect illustration
of how many amazing American histories and stories surround us at all times,
easily overlooked but waiting to be discovered. For one thing, Stonehurst’s
integrated design represents a unique and
inspiring collaboration between two of the most talented and influential
Americans of its era: architect Henry Hobson
(H.H.) Richardson and landscape architect Frederick
Law Olmsted. And for another, the man who commissioned that collaborative
effort, businessman and reformer Robert
Treat Paine, represents an inspiring alternative to his Gilded
Age moment generally and its robber barons specifically—Paine pursued a
lifetime of social reform and philanthropic activism, not in the superficial “Gospel
of Wealth” way but far more
deeply and meaningfully. I look forward to learning a lot more about Paine
and his life and work, and his historic house has provided the starting point
for those researches.
Next history
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Any histories and stories from your hometowns you’d share?
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