castle hill on the crane estate

The tour of the Castle is a nice brush with the very rich in the gilded age. The Crane's were among the richest families in Chicago and built a lavish mansion at Crane only to tear it down and build another one. The entire estate is an impressive complex that offers a window into the lifestyle of the rich and famous early in the 20th century.

The Crane Estate at Castle Hill deserves to be seen by all those who love gardens, interior design, architecture and history. If you cannot fly to England to investigate classic British manor houses,instead visit this treasure in our own back yard, where examples of the best of Old Worldwoodcarving & marble decoration have been seamlessly installed into a 1928 manor house.Better yet, admire the fabulous bathrooms that the owner of the Crane Plumbing Company installed in his summer home...each one of them different, and all beautiful. Although there's no audio tour, the on-site guides are helpful. For a thorough explanation of the origins of the Crane Estate,along with a room-by-room look, and then a complete garden tour, see Nan Quick's article at:http://nanquick.com/2014/10/15/the-crane-estate-at-castle-hill-in-ipswich-ma-a-tour-of-the-house-gardens-which-exemplify-the-american-country-place-era-2/

We went to a wedding reception at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. Everything was delicious. My only complaint was during cocktail hour the bar was way too small. Had to wait 15-20 minutes in line to get served.

We loved walking around the grounds & seeing the ocean from several views. Even the smaller homes below the castle were interesting.

I prefer to tour large estates like this using an audio tour so that I can go at my own pace, but that is not an option at this estate. Our tour guide, Susan, was very knowledgeable about the Crane family and the house. She thoroughly answered any questions any of us had. (the tour consisted of myself, my husband, our 2 small kids and three other adults). The house is magnificent. The furniture was sold off at auction when the house was left to the Trustees, but they have done extensive research using pictures ans original paint chips to paint and furnish the house in the exact original colors and furniture. They are doing a remarkable job. While the livings areas downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs are all breathtaking, it was the bathrooms that I appreciated most. Having owned a plumbing supply company you can only imagine that the bathrooms in Crane's homes were going to web state-of-the-art, and that they were. After our hour-long tour, we explored the grounds.m the views are definitely million dollar views. The allee was a sight in itself, but once you climbed to the tip the view of the beach was outstanding. You get a true appreciation of how having a private beach to throw lavish parties was part of the allure of having a home on this site. You also get an amazing view of the back of the home from the allee. In my opinion the back of the house is just as, or even more beautiful than the front. The casino is being renovated, which when completed will really give you a sense of how entertaining was done in the golden time of this era. In the casino is the pool complex, which will not be filled with water, the bachelor's quarters and the ballroom. They are restoring this area using the original herringbone brick pattern, slab pavers, light posts, and shrubbery. Again, another example of how the Trustees are did gently trying to restore this home to its original splendor. The Italian gardens aren't really there anymore, the section is just a large, lush green carpet of lawn, but the statues are still there and you can visualize how stunning these gardens were to look at and wander through. Sadly, there is absolutely nothing left of the rose garden except ruins of its walls and sculptures. You are unable to walk in that area due to its deterioration. We wandered the wooded trails and stumbled up Pivot Rock. That was quite amusing. I won't tell you the secret...you'll have to figure it out yourself. The name is a huge hint. Another recreation area that is gone is the maze. They had a picture of it in one of the upstairs family rooms. Someone on my tour mentioned that the only thing missing from the room was a tv, to which the tour guide replied that the Crane's didn't need a tv because they can sit and watch their guests getting lost in the maze. On one of the side of the home was a tennis court, which was then converted to a bowling green, and a huge hedge maze. Reminded me of The Shining. I would have loved to have gotten lost in the maze. The tour guide said the deer had eaten the maze. They are restoring the bowling green, but it doesn't seem like they have plans for rebuilding the maze. Too bad. The price of the tour was $12 per adult. I felt that that was a more than fair price. You have to pay $10 per car just to get on the grounds. I didn't find that to be so acceptable, as there isn't too too much to do on the grounds. As long as all the money goes back into restoring the property I'm happy to help. I would definitely recommend a visit to this home for none who loves these gilded age estates. Plan to spend about 2-3 hours if you are going to explore the grounds.

You can only tour the house with a guide. Not always our first choice, but we went with it. Turned out we were just the 2 of us with Guide. She was great. Now, we saw the next tour and there were about 20 people so that may change your experience. But we loved it. We were sorry we didn't have more time to walk outside and down the grand allee to the beach. Easily a full days enjoyment. Small decent lunch offered ,too. On the terrace.

There is nothing more beautiful than the Great House and the grounds of the Crane Estate. Beautiful views of the salt marshes and beaches, manicured grounds, lovely architecture. It is charming and romantic. The staff of the Estate are wonderful and helpful. Part of the grand allee were partly being renovated when we toured in July 2014, and we can't wait to go back and see the results.

This 59 room summer home of Richard Teller Crane Jr his family was used for six to eight weeks in the summer. It is a jewel of a home with exquisite grounds to explore. Tours of the home and grounds are given from mid May to mid October. The guides are gracious, knowledgeable, and, give you a great flavor of the summer life of the Cranes. There is a cafe there where you can have lunch and look out on their grounds,their beach and the ocean. Check the TTOR.org website for all things going on there. Concerts, art show, Christmas decorated open house to name a few. It's a treasure.

Castle Hill is the summer "cottage" of the Crane family, a wealthy Chicago industrialist. The architecture is in the style of an English manor house. The house has 59 rooms, many of which are furnished in the style of the 1920s. Our tour guide was knowledgeable about both the house and the family. Extraordinary wealth can create a grand summer house!

Back to Castle Hill for another wonderful day. The weather was great and the Grand Allée is growing in wonderfully. A nice walk down to the ocean was just the ticket after a pleasant lunch on the patio. New to us was a café operation offering wonderful sandwiches and delicious iced tea and lemonade. Just right for this setting. Work continues on the Casino project and the Trustees generally are binging aspects of the property back.We took a guided house tour, again, with a wonderful guide. No matter how many times we go there is always something new to learn. A change this time was that there was a charge, even for members, for the tour. Members do get a discount. For others visiting the combination of the entry fee and the house tour should encourage more folks to join the Trustees. In any case this is a wonderful property to experience time and again.

Never knew this place existed. Went there on a Ladies Tour (husbands at Naval Reunion Meeting in Boston). It was just beautiful. Grounds are magnificent with rolling hills and you can see the Atlantic Ocean on a clear day.Rooms are quite interesting, particularly the bathrooms. Of course, Crane manufactured bathroom fixtures, but it was still amazing to see what modern fixtures and gorgeous bathrooms were available during this era.Tour guides were quite informative and answered all of our questions. Lovely visit.

Great tours, beautiful views, and a small café overlooking the Grand Alee - nice place for a picnic in their Italian gardens.

It costs $5 per person just to enter the grounds of this estate. Then if you want to take a tour it costs an additional $7 per person. We opted to just visit the grounds, but there was really not that much to see. There is a beautiful rolling green "mall" that leads down to the ocean, and 2 gardens, which had no flowers or plants,only stone crumbling structures. We took a stroll on one of the paths, but were unable to walk to the beach as there was a private event going on.The mansion is very impressive, and the view is beautiful, but I don't really think it was worth the money.Others say the grounds were beautiful, but we found the structures within crumbling and in dire need of repair.

It was very interesting and beautiful..We did it on a rainy day, but I would even go back on a sunshiny day!

The Crane estate was built as a summer home for a wealthy family in a bygone era. Our tour guide gave us all the details about the construction as well as the family history of the Cranes. As you would expect some of the bathrooms are beautifully done as this was the speciality of the Crane business. The grounds are worth a walk, we did not go all th way to the beach it looked way too long. The last tour is at one PM. I think the house tour is worth it without the grounds tour, you can do that on your own.