Massachusetts historic mansions show how architecture adapts to wealth, culture, and changing times.
Wharton designed it herself, creating a house where every detail reflected her personality.
The gardens, laid out with mathematical precision, are as structured as her novels.
Margaret Helminska via Wikimedia Commons
The house remains a reflection of its owners ability to balance old-world tradition with the necessities of the moment.
These mansions are snapshots of ambition and adaptation.
The Mount Lenox
Edith Whartons country estate, The Mount, is an architectural homage to European sensibility.
The house, with its symmetrical facade is a masterclass in balance.
The interiors follow Whartons strict rules about proportion and flow.
Outside, Whartons obsession with structure carried into the gardens.
Like plot structure, bricks, mortar, and greenery all required ruthless editing in Whartons scheme.
By the time they were done with it, the house had collected Federal-style flourishes and Victorian-era updates.
Later updates softened the edges without erasing the structures original intent.
The grounds, picturesque and deliberate, show off the familys knack for staying relevant.
The Codman Estate isnt loud or showy.
Naumkeag Stockbridge
Naumkeag in Stockbridge isnt your average summer retreat.
Yet, its anything but simple.
Their work transformed the grounds into a masterclass in whimsical design.
Naumkeag blends the seriousness of great design with a sense of fun thats hard to ignore.
Its eccentric in all the best ways.
Beauport Gloucester
Beauport, perched above Gloucester Harbor, is a design experiment in overdrive.
The rooms are tied together by Sleepers eye for detail.
The house itself, with its shingle and stone exterior, features a sprawling floor plan.
Outside, the terraces and gardens feel like an afterthought but still manage to add their own charm.
Every corner of Beauport feels like Sleepers attempt to cram his many inspirations into one space.
Exotic plants like camellias, orchids, and citrus trees were the cornerstone of the Lyman familys horticultural ambitions.
Back then, being able to grow oranges in Massachusetts was the ultimate flex.
TheLyman Estate Greenhousesstill host five specialty plant sales annually on the estate.
Its symmetrical facade, classic proportions, and modest detailing signal a deliberate choice: elegance without ostentation.
The Sedgwicks created a home where ideas and creativity could thrive.
But what sets Long Hill apart is what surrounds it.
Formal hedges give way to wildflowers; a walled garden contrasts with open lawns.
Its as if every step offers a different perspective.
The house also carries a connection to cultural history.
Over the centuries, the house has seen its fair share of updates.
Sleeper, being Sleeper, couldnt resist adding his personal touch.
But its the literary history that truly defines the Old Manse.
Later, Nathaniel Hawthorne moved in with his wife Sophia, carving their initials into the glass windowpanes.
Inside, the rooms are understated, favoring functionality over flash.
Wooden floors and modest fireplaces set the scene for intellectual gatherings.
The Old Manse is a touchstone for Concords revolutionary and literary identities, steeped in both war and words.
The 80-acre property surrounding the house amplifies its charm.
Sweeping lawns, wooded trails, and outbuildings like the carriage house create a sense of self-contained grandeur.
Andrew=Safford House Salem
The Andrew-Safford House in Salem, Massachusetts, is Federal elegance turned up to eleven.
High ceilings, elaborate woodwork, and spacious rooms reflect the wealth and aspirations of its original owner.
A stone porte-cochere frames the entrance, where a heavy wooden door adds a fortress-like gravitas.
The house is as grand inside as out.
Richly decorated public spaces feature intricate woodwork, ornamental iron, and stone finishes.
For decades, it served as a conference center until its closure in 2014.
The interior takes things further, with 18 rooms dressed to impress.
Imported English wallpapers line the walls, including some of the earliest examples surviving in America.
He died suddenly in 1775, leaving behind the house.
It eventually became a museum, where visitors can marvel at its perfectly preserved grandeur.
Constructed in 1690, the house is a rugged stone structure practical, unadorned, and unshakably New England.
Its thick walls and gabled roof were built to keep the cold out and the roof on during noreasters.
The house reflects its shifting identities over time.
Beyond the house, the surrounding 230-acre farm ties the property to New Englands agricultural legacy.
Stone walls, open fields, and historic outbuildings create a setting that feels frozen in time.
French clearly knew how to shape both stone and spaces, blending practicality with artistic flair.
The house itself is a study in understated elegance.
The real star of Chesterwood is the studio, where French worked on some of his most iconic pieces.
Large windows flood the space with natural light.
The grounds are equally intentional, with gardens and trails that feel like extensions of the creative process.
This wasnt just a summer house it was Cranes declaration that indoor plumbing had officially arrived.
The ballroom alone could host half of Bostons elite without feeling crowded.
The 2,100-acre estate extends the drama outdoors.
Around the house, formal gardens mix European influences with New Englands rugged charm.
The Crane Estate still steals the scene nearly a century later.
