Life From The Roots: The Crane Estate at Christmas, No Downstairs Seen Here

The photos ishown were taken the first weekend in December, 2015, in the 59 room Crane Estate at Castle Hill in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The rooms were beautifully decorated for members and visitors to see. The fundraising event included, homemade cookies, live music and a visit from Santa. My husband and I are members, so we frequently go there, mostly to enjoy the views, see the garden and walk the grounds. This was our first Christmas event. If you ever visit Essex County, Massachusetts, please find your way to this property.

From Wikipedia, "Castle Hill refers to either a 165-acre (67 ha) drumlin surrounded by sea and salt marsh or to the mansion that sits on the hill. Both are part of the 2,100-acre (850 ha) Crane Estate located on Argilla Road in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The former summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Crane, Jr., the estate includes a historic mansion, 21 outbuildings, and designed landscapes overlooking Ipswich Bay, on the seacoast off Route 1, north of Boston. Its name derives from a promontory in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, whence many early Massachusetts Bay Colony settlers immigrated, and predates the Crane mansion."

The above photo of the dining room was a retake, because the sun was shining past my back, and leaving many shadows. Fortunately, when we were about to leave, I noticed that the sun, while still shining, had moved out of my frame.

Below are quite a few bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen and sitting rooms. I didn't take the ballroom, because it was a sitting area for visitors and there were too many people in there. In addition, I included some spring exterior shots of the grounds. You might recognize the house or grounds from various movies or a TV show.