On the Water: Salem & the North Shore Fall Symposium

Wednesday and Thursday, September 15-16

Departing Salem for Beverly, our first stop is at Long Hill (1916), a Colonial Revival brick house containing early-19th-century interiors from a Federal-style Charleston mansion. This stately dwelling was the summer home of noted author and editor Ellery Sedgwick and his family until 1978. The five acres of cultivated grounds are laid out in a series of garden “rooms” that blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands.

Castle Hill (1928) near Ipswich is part of a 2,100-acre estate that features incredible gardens, sweeping views of the Atlantic, and the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Crane, Jr. The talented Chicago architect David Adler and the renowned Olmsted Brothers designed the house and land¬scape, respectively. The ornate terraced gardens feature a magnificent grass mall, the recently rejuvenated Italian Rose Garden, and the delightful Casino, where we enjoy lunch.

The 18th-century Cogswell’s Grant in Essex was the summer home of pioneering American folk and decorative arts collectors Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little. The rooms overflow with beautiful and curious 18th- and 19th-century objects that the Little’s amassed over 60 years, offering a unique and important perspective on early Americana collecting.

Perched on Gloucester’s Eastern Point, Beauport is an enchanting Arts and Crafts-style cottage with a heralded collection of decorative arts. The home of Henry Davis Sleeper, one of the country’s first professional interior designers, Beauport was enormously influential on Henry Francis du Pont as he set out to reimagine Winterthur. Touring its maze of rooms offers a romantic exploration of design and history. Our visit concludes with a reception in the garden overlooking Cape Ann.

We enjoy an overnight stay at the splendid Beauport Inn in Gloucester, a modern building that incorporates historic architectural details to create a uniquely comfortable space (included in registration fee).

The morning opens with a visit to the Cape Ann Museum, which preserves and celebrates the history and culture of the North Shore and houses the largest collection of Fitz Henry Lane maritime and landscape paintings as well as many works by other prominent artists inspired by the area. We will also tour a new campus that opened in 2021 and includes a collections storage facility and three historic structures.

Following a delicious seaside lunch at the Singing Beach Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, we visit an expansive 1870s summer house featuring an eclectic collection of Asian decorative arts and American paintings. Now the year-round residence of a Massachusetts-based photographer, we have the chance to visit her studio as well.

Wednesday and Thursday, September 15-16

Departing Salem for North Andover, we reach Stevens-Coolidge Place, an 18th-century farm that was adapted as a rural retreat in the 19th century. This summer home received an elegant Colonial Revival makeover by Joseph Chandler on behalf of John Gardner Coolidge. Our visit highlights the tre¬mendous cataloguing and preservation project that has revitalized the house.

The Historic New England curatorial staff takes us for an exclusive look inside their collections storage and conservation labs in Haverhill. This newly renovated, state-of-the-art facility houses the organization’s exemplary decorative arts collection.

Following lunch, we continue to Newburyport, which was first settled in 1635 and grew to prominence in the 18th century through shipbuilding and mercantile activity.

A 1797 Federal house was undergoing extensive restoration when we last visited, including returning both exterior and interiors to original paint colors and installing historic window glass. That daunting task is now complete, allowing a study of the couples’ collection of mid-to-late-18th-century furni¬ture documented to Salem and the North Shore.

The Cushing House (1678) is a 21-room Federal house decked out with fine furnishings and decorative pieces from the region. Collections of portraits, silver, needlework, clocks, and early photographs are displayed, not to mention the impressive holdings highlighting Newburyport’s early trade with China.

The day concludes with a reception hosted by Trust Governor Tara Cederholm and her husband, KC, at their early-19th-century house.

We retire to the Garrison Inn, an elegant boutique hotel in a landmark building constructed in 1809 (included in registration fee).

The morning begins in nearby Newbury and a visit to the late-17th-century Coffin House, which was occupied by the Coffins over three centuries and contains many family furnishings. The house provides fascinating insight into domestic life in rural New England.

Across the street sits the Peter Toppan House, which was built in 1697, with a major addition about 1730. The owners have assembled an exemplary collection appropriate for a coastal Massachusetts home, including furniture, stoneware, metalwork, textiles, and prints.

We proceed to Ipswich for a bespoke tour and fabulous lunch at Castle Hill before finishing the outing at Cogswell’s Grant.

Sunday, September 19, 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm 

Our Sunday excursion starts on Marblehead Neck with lunch at the Corinthian Yacht Club, which provides stunning views of Marblehead’s old town from across the harbor.

Upon reaching Marblehead proper, we benefit from an introduction to the port’s history at the Town Hall (1876) from Judy Anderson a historian of Marblehead decorative art and architecture. Judy brings us on a stroll through the town’s extensive 18th-century built environment, including some of the nearly 300 houses that survive from before 1775, when Marblehead was the tenth most populous metropolis in British North America and second largest in Massachusetts. We include a stop at a lovely privately owned 18th century dwelling. 

The King Hooper Mansion was built in 1728 for merchant Robert “King” Hooper and enlarged to its present size in 1745. Once the storefront of renowned antiques dealer Israel Sack, the house showcases preserved interiors and is admired for its lovely gardens.

Across the corner from the Hooper Mansion sits the Marblehead Museum’s J.O.J. Frost Folk Art Gallery, named for an early-20th-century untrained artist who painted historic scenes using materials he had on hand. Participants also have the opportunity to enjoy workshops on 18th-century Marblehead furniture or the Arts and Crafts-period Marblehead Pottery.

The Colonel Jeremiah Lee Mansion (1768) was built for the wealthiest merchant in Colonial Massachusetts. Many of the Mansion’s original decorative elements have been preserved, including rare 18th-century English hand-painted wallpapers, the only such wall treatments surviving in place. The house features an outstanding collection of decorative arts, including furniture from Boston, Salem, and Marblehead.

Our day concludes with the rare opportunity to enjoy a festive reception in an elegant 18th-century space, as we gather in the Lee Mansion’s parlor to toast five days of exploration on the North Shore. 

Friday, September 17, 6:00 pm

We are honored by the kind invitation to visit the home of Jonathan Loring, perched high above Salem Sound in Prides Crossing. A long-time member of the Decorative Arts Trust and an enthusiastic supporter of the Emerging Scholars Program, Jonathan is a descendant of multiple Salem ship captains. His 1940s house contains fine examples of Boston, North Shore, and Portsmouth furniture, and a distinctive art collection, including Boston-area artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, 18th century maps, and an extensive representation of watercolors by the Georgian-era English artist, Thomas Rowlandson.

Please join us for a wonderful evening of connoisseurship and conviviality as we toast to our host’s hospitality and lend support to the Trust’s efforts to encourage the next generation of curators and academics through a growing series of grants, scholarships, and internships. In 2021, more than four dozen graduate students and young professionals will benefit from the Trust’s Emerging Scholars Program in spite of the continued hindrances of the pandemic.