MASSACHUSETTS, August 11, 2011
Dear Friends and Relatives,
I am posting this last-day blog a bit after the fact, but, having finally made it back to my apartment with Alexandra at about 1:00 a.m. this morning, I really didn't feel like posting anything and let it all lie fallow until now. However, now that I have posted all my Massachusetts photos on Flickr, I have decided to fill in the last written dimension as well.
Marthe was up early today, as it was one day before her show and she was anxious to get last-minute details taken care of. I heard her roaming around at about 5:30 a.m., and, since I was drifting in and out of sleep, I arose soon afterwards and packed. It was a glorious morning, so after I took care of all my ablutions of the morning, I decided to go on the porch and read some more of my Saint Gaudens book. Not a cloud was in the sky, and it was a pleasure to sit in the cool of the morning, and, in spite of the constant beeping of garbage trucks which were collecting trash, the sounds of the birds reigned during the intervals between those auditory assaults.
Scilla, Sarah, Marthe and I had a quick breakfast standing up, as all kinds of last-minute plans were put into place and the girls were talking about gathering forces to organize the food for the reception at the opening. Marthe's business cards had been updated and looked absolutely perfect, as her name, scanned into the card, worked beautifully and presented well against the burnt orange of the card.
As Scilla and Marthe worked to get last details in place, Sarah and I paid a visit to two glorious venues in the area--the Crane Estate in Ipswich and Crane Beach. In 1637, the town of Ipswich granted the land known as Castle Hill and Castle Neck to John Winthrop, Jr., son of the Masssachusetts Bay Colony's first governor. For the next two centuries, the land was farmed by a succession of owners.
John Brown inherited an interest in Castle Hill from his father, Manaseh Brown, who bought the property in 1843. In 1886, Brown had the property's dramatic vistas and natural features enhanced with elaborate roadways and tree plantings. He renovated the farmhouse at the foot of the hill into a rambling seaside "cottage."
Today, Castle Hill is a 165-acre National Historic Landmark. The landscape was completely transformed beginning in 1910, when Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr., whose Crane COmpany manufactured valves, pumps, and bathroom fixtures, purchased Castle Hill and Castle Neck from the Brown estate. He created a lavish summer retreat for his wife, Florence Crane, and their children, Cornelius and Florence. The Crane Estate would come to exemplify the American Country Place Era, which emphasized the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces. Castle Hill had wonderful gardens, but also incorporated elements of a working farm, including wildlife and vegetable gardens. As far as the home was concerned, the Cranes made their home on the hilltop. They first built an Italian villa, completed in 1912, but replaced it with a 59-room English-style mansion, completed in 1928. By the time of his death in 1931, Crane's property totaled 3500 acres, including a series of marsh islands on Essex Bay. In 1945, the family gave 1000 acres of beach and dunes to the Trustees of Reservations in memory of Richard Crane.
We walked up to the house but did not tour the inside of it. It was built by the architect David Adler, and is considered his masterpiece. It is the second of two Crane mansions built on the hilltop. This elegant, Stuart-style mansion was inspired by 17th c. English country houses. From there we walked the Grand Allee, a 160-foot-wide, half-mile-long allee or "mall" which sweeps from the Great House to the Casino and then on to the sea. It was designed by landscape architect Arthur Schurcliff and lined with spruce trees and classically inspired statuary.
After a walk down the Allee, where we saw a whole class of children enjoying the beautiful morning and rolling down the spectacular hill, I left Sarah to nurse Owen while I walked to the Italian Formal Garden, designed from 1910-1912. It was designed by the Olmsted Brothers and was the first and most elaborate of the estate's Formal Garden spaces. One end featured a columned balcony above a fountain and pool. Two octagonal tea houses are linked by a pergola at the other end. A central garden included ornamental flower beds. Although many of the statues were missing and the tea houses were roped off for future refurbishing, the grand atmosphere of that garden seemed still very much alive.
From there, I met Sarah and Owen, and we drove to Crane Beach to walk the wonderful white sands of the seashore. The four-mile, white-sand barrier beach helps anchor a coastal system that includes more than 1000 acres of dunes, maritime forest, and saltmarsh.
Many people were taking advantage of the spectacular weather and were walking, wading, and swimming (a bit cold for that, in my opinion). We walked for about half a mile, enjoying the tidal pools, shells, and the patterns in the sand following wave action and its scourings.
We arrived back at the house at around 2:00, had a quick bite, and I stowed my luggage in the car. Marthe and Scilla came back just in time to say goodbye, and then I was off with Sarah and Owen to the airport, where I arrived at about 4:30. I bid a fond adieu to Sarah and Owen, both of whom I have grown to like extremely well, and hope to see again in the future. I was off to catch my flight to La Guardia at 6:20 p.m., and the flight was only about 37 minutes in length. A little "baby planelet" American Eagle jet was our "chariot," and it was hardly full at all. In a spectacularly cloudless, mellow afternoon light we banked towards our airport and saw the incredible view of Manhattan spread out before us. After a change of terminal, I found my continuing flight to DFW, and we departed at around 9:00 p.m. Again, a flight that was about half full--no more--I was the only one in my entire bank of seats. We landed at about 11:45 p.m. at Terminal C, and I gathered my luggage and took a Terminal bus to E, where Alexandra was going to arrive from Minneapolis / St. Paul at 12:29 a.m. In fact, she was early, and after we had hugged and she had retrieved her luggage, we were off on the Super Shuttle, arriving at our car (parked at a friend's house) at about 1:00 and at the apartment at about 1:30 a.m. We finally got to sleep at about 2:00.
Alexandra, to celebrate her upcoming birthday, will stay with me until Sunday. It is a short visit, but we plan to do a lot of talking, going to movies and out to restaurants, and in general catching up with each other.
And so another summer has come to an end, and I return to school on Monday for in-service, followed by school starting on Tuesday, August 23. Thanks to all of you who have faithfully kept up with my comings and goings this summer. It has been fun to have shared them all with you. With best wishes and dreams of further peripatetic wanderings, your friend Sylvia
I am posting this last-day blog a bit after the fact, but, having finally made it back to my apartment with Alexandra at about 1:00 a.m. this morning, I really didn't feel like posting anything and let it all lie fallow until now. However, now that I have posted all my Massachusetts photos on Flickr, I have decided to fill in the last written dimension as well.
Marthe was up early today, as it was one day before her show and she was anxious to get last-minute details taken care of. I heard her roaming around at about 5:30 a.m., and, since I was drifting in and out of sleep, I arose soon afterwards and packed. It was a glorious morning, so after I took care of all my ablutions of the morning, I decided to go on the porch and read some more of my Saint Gaudens book. Not a cloud was in the sky, and it was a pleasure to sit in the cool of the morning, and, in spite of the constant beeping of garbage trucks which were collecting trash, the sounds of the birds reigned during the intervals between those auditory assaults.
Scilla, Sarah, Marthe and I had a quick breakfast standing up, as all kinds of last-minute plans were put into place and the girls were talking about gathering forces to organize the food for the reception at the opening. Marthe's business cards had been updated and looked absolutely perfect, as her name, scanned into the card, worked beautifully and presented well against the burnt orange of the card.
As Scilla and Marthe worked to get last details in place, Sarah and I paid a visit to two glorious venues in the area--the Crane Estate in Ipswich and Crane Beach. In 1637, the town of Ipswich granted the land known as Castle Hill and Castle Neck to John Winthrop, Jr., son of the Masssachusetts Bay Colony's first governor. For the next two centuries, the land was farmed by a succession of owners.
John Brown inherited an interest in Castle Hill from his father, Manaseh Brown, who bought the property in 1843. In 1886, Brown had the property's dramatic vistas and natural features enhanced with elaborate roadways and tree plantings. He renovated the farmhouse at the foot of the hill into a rambling seaside "cottage."
Today, Castle Hill is a 165-acre National Historic Landmark. The landscape was completely transformed beginning in 1910, when Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr., whose Crane COmpany manufactured valves, pumps, and bathroom fixtures, purchased Castle Hill and Castle Neck from the Brown estate. He created a lavish summer retreat for his wife, Florence Crane, and their children, Cornelius and Florence. The Crane Estate would come to exemplify the American Country Place Era, which emphasized the integration of indoor and outdoor spaces. Castle Hill had wonderful gardens, but also incorporated elements of a working farm, including wildlife and vegetable gardens. As far as the home was concerned, the Cranes made their home on the hilltop. They first built an Italian villa, completed in 1912, but replaced it with a 59-room English-style mansion, completed in 1928. By the time of his death in 1931, Crane's property totaled 3500 acres, including a series of marsh islands on Essex Bay. In 1945, the family gave 1000 acres of beach and dunes to the Trustees of Reservations in memory of Richard Crane.
We walked up to the house but did not tour the inside of it. It was built by the architect David Adler, and is considered his masterpiece. It is the second of two Crane mansions built on the hilltop. This elegant, Stuart-style mansion was inspired by 17th c. English country houses. From there we walked the Grand Allee, a 160-foot-wide, half-mile-long allee or "mall" which sweeps from the Great House to the Casino and then on to the sea. It was designed by landscape architect Arthur Schurcliff and lined with spruce trees and classically inspired statuary.
After a walk down the Allee, where we saw a whole class of children enjoying the beautiful morning and rolling down the spectacular hill, I left Sarah to nurse Owen while I walked to the Italian Formal Garden, designed from 1910-1912. It was designed by the Olmsted Brothers and was the first and most elaborate of the estate's Formal Garden spaces. One end featured a columned balcony above a fountain and pool. Two octagonal tea houses are linked by a pergola at the other end. A central garden included ornamental flower beds. Although many of the statues were missing and the tea houses were roped off for future refurbishing, the grand atmosphere of that garden seemed still very much alive.
From there, I met Sarah and Owen, and we drove to Crane Beach to walk the wonderful white sands of the seashore. The four-mile, white-sand barrier beach helps anchor a coastal system that includes more than 1000 acres of dunes, maritime forest, and saltmarsh.
Many people were taking advantage of the spectacular weather and were walking, wading, and swimming (a bit cold for that, in my opinion). We walked for about half a mile, enjoying the tidal pools, shells, and the patterns in the sand following wave action and its scourings.
We arrived back at the house at around 2:00, had a quick bite, and I stowed my luggage in the car. Marthe and Scilla came back just in time to say goodbye, and then I was off with Sarah and Owen to the airport, where I arrived at about 4:30. I bid a fond adieu to Sarah and Owen, both of whom I have grown to like extremely well, and hope to see again in the future. I was off to catch my flight to La Guardia at 6:20 p.m., and the flight was only about 37 minutes in length. A little "baby planelet" American Eagle jet was our "chariot," and it was hardly full at all. In a spectacularly cloudless, mellow afternoon light we banked towards our airport and saw the incredible view of Manhattan spread out before us. After a change of terminal, I found my continuing flight to DFW, and we departed at around 9:00 p.m. Again, a flight that was about half full--no more--I was the only one in my entire bank of seats. We landed at about 11:45 p.m. at Terminal C, and I gathered my luggage and took a Terminal bus to E, where Alexandra was going to arrive from Minneapolis / St. Paul at 12:29 a.m. In fact, she was early, and after we had hugged and she had retrieved her luggage, we were off on the Super Shuttle, arriving at our car (parked at a friend's house) at about 1:00 and at the apartment at about 1:30 a.m. We finally got to sleep at about 2:00.
Alexandra, to celebrate her upcoming birthday, will stay with me until Sunday. It is a short visit, but we plan to do a lot of talking, going to movies and out to restaurants, and in general catching up with each other.
And so another summer has come to an end, and I return to school on Monday for in-service, followed by school starting on Tuesday, August 23. Thanks to all of you who have faithfully kept up with my comings and goings this summer. It has been fun to have shared them all with you. With best wishes and dreams of further peripatetic wanderings, your friend Sylvia
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