Life From The Roots: Sep 22, 2016

The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.

Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.

Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Little Genealogy, Beautiful Flowers, Old House, Antiques..Need More?

Tree taken last year, in front
of the House, see last
photo.

As with almost all my blog posts, I try to incorporate a little genealogy, showcase beautiful flowers or scenery, an old house, collectibles, and/or antiques into it. In this post, I finally get to do everything. Fortunately, the Stevens-Coolidge Place in North Andover, MA is rather close to where I live and I've been visiting the property for a good 9-10 years. We go to walk around the grounds, smell the fresh air, and view all the gardens.

However, I always wondered what was in the house, and several times when I inquired about it, I was told they didn't have enough volunteers to act as docents. This year, I got a notice that they were having a tour of the house. (I appeared there bright and early on June 21st for the first tour, and it didn't disappoint. I had NO idea it was even furnished! Photos are below. The post will also show the formal rose garden, a perennial garden (this was the best growing season ever), the cutting garden from beginning to end, and a large French garden.

The Stevens-Coolidge Place

139 Andover Street

North Andover, MA

(A property of The Trustees of Reservations.)

The house as shown from various views from the front, side, and back.

The house is called a Place, but I like to call it an Estate since there are 91 acres. Helen Stevens married John Coolidge in 1909 and inherited this property, known as Ashdale Farm in 1914. They lived here in the summer until John Coolidge died in 1936. She remained spending summers here until her death in 1962 and she bequeathed the estate to The Trustees of Reservations, and they changed the name to Stevens-Coolidge Place. Note: Since I have quite a few ancestors and relatives from this area, I hope to do their genealogy to see if there is a connection to mine.

The Rose Garden

Ashdale Farm. Construction of Rose Garden, man working on right.

The photo above was obtained from:

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:b8516144v

This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND).

Early spring, not much is in bloom, but the lilacs are!

The Perennial Garden photos are below.

I usually go three times during mid-late spring. The first flowers that I go nuts over are the oriental poppies and purple iris.

Front entrance.

On the first floor we walked through several sitting rooms, a den, and a formal dining room, all filled with family antiques. (I've enlarged the photos, so you can see the items.)

Hallway.

Photo of the couple on Mr. Coolidge's desk, seen below.

A door opens to a patio overlooking the Perennial Garden.

Genealogy on the wall! Mr. John Gardner Coolidge was related to Thomas Jefferson. (Thomas Jefferson was his great-great grandfather). I was the only one who got excited and took the photos. He was also the nephew of Isabella Stewart Gardner.