In 1909, Chicago Industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr., lost his heart to the land at the end of a quiet country road in Ipswich.
Text by Carroll Cabot
AS ARGILLA ROAD IN IPSWICH CROSSES FOX CREEK, THE sweeping view over the channeled salt marshes ends abruptly at an isolated hill dominated by an imposing English manor-style house. The site is Castle Hill, a drumlin known even in America’s earliest days as a significant landmark. The mansion is the Great House, designed by David Adler and built in the 1920s as a summer residence for Chicago industrialist Richard Teller Crane, Jr., and his family. The grounds, laid out by the finest landscape architects of the time, provide superlative views of one of the most beautiful natural settings in New England.
 Today, in a world that regards such extravagant monuments to wealth with skepticism, the mansion endures as a social statement as well an architecturally and culturally significant institution. Its design has proved timeless, as suitable today for social events and formal gatherings as it was in the elegant twenties; its lovely avenues and lawns welcome every kind of visitor for picnics, children’s entertainment, and music under the stars. Castle Hill continues to enjoy a public appreciative of its beautiful setting, eager to enjoy its ambiance and learn more about the family who once lived here in such splendor.
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Go behind-the-scenes of the Crane Estate on a house or landscape tour.
Carroll Cabot served on the Crane House and Festival Committees from 1984 - 1994. She lives in Manchester, MA, where she is a community volunteer.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2009 of Special Places, The Trustees' member magazine. To subscribe, join The Trustees today.
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