Where Was The Lincoln Memorial Made?

Photo by B. Poole taken at Chesterwood,
Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Several years ago, I wrote a few posts about Daniel Chester French, a Concord, Massachusetts sculptor 

who was commissioned in 1873 by the town to make the bronze Minuteman statue which is displayed near the Old North Bridge. That fact is something I've known for many years, but when the Concord Museum had an exhibit of his works, I became more aware of his work pertaining to the Lincoln Memorial.

I then discovered he summered for 30 years in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at his estate and studio, called Chesterwood, with 120 acres. The good news is, these buildings are open to the public for the price of admission.

The pictures below are of the main house, only a few rooms were shown, the studio, and the few gardens showed evidence of fall because almost all the flowers had gone by. If you have ever seen the Lincoln Memorial, I believe this post might interest you or your children.

Although the entire Lincoln Memorial wasn't made here, the preliminary design work was. That fact, was enough to impress me.

The above is the main entrance to the house, and below is what you see on the opposite side, the fields and Taconic Mountains, shown below.

From the edge of the woods, another view of the house.

Main hallway. I believe we saw three rooms: the dining room, sitting room and private office with Mr. French's original typewriter (all shown below).

Study with Daniel's typewriter shown on the right.

Part of the 2nd floor hallway above, and three bedrooms below.

There were several gardens to enjoy as well as trails in the woods to explore.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a front picture of the studio, probably because I was so taken with the bench by the open door. The picture below is the side entrance with the huge door and the back porch overlooking the property.

The porch with bench was to the left of the entrance door. You are allowed to sit on it and view the meadow and mountain in front (see my 2nd picture).

When you first enter the studio, this is what you see! Notice the huge door as well?

General Charles Devens is on the horse. The statue may look small, but it was quite life-size.

I'm glad the chair is there, it's a good way to get an idea of the size of things.

You are looking at an open drawer with Mr. French's utensils. The window above the table provided an interesting reflection.

Looking toward the house, from the woods.

Daniel Chester French Led Me on a Trail (My post with quite a few of pictures)