The Crane Estate is a place of sweeping natural beauty, where the Atlantic Ocean meets a carefully conserved landscape and an elegantly designed historic home. Before it was known as Castle Hill, the area was known as Agawam, or the “place beyond the marsh” by indigenous peoples. The land was purchased in 1910 by the wealthy, Chicago-based Crane family, who built a Stuart-style mansion now known as the Great House on the site of an earlier Italian Renaissance Revival villa, and created the Italian and Rose Gardens. Early in their stewardship of the estate, the Cranes recognized its conservation value and amended their wills to ensure it would eventually be protected by The Trustees. Today, the property spans 2,100 of the family’s original 3,500 acres and includes Castle Hill, Crane Beach, and the Crane Wildlife Refuge. In addition to the Great House, visitors can explore dunes and salt marshes, home to many species of birds and other coastal wildlife.
CRB Classical midday host Edyn-Mae Stevenson explores this special place through music, including Ottorino Respighi’s The Birds, Felix Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony, and Claude Debussy’s La Mer, conducted by Charles Munch with the Boston Symphony Orchestra — whose 75th anniversary program remains on display in the Great House.
Listen to Classical Music at the Crane Estate via the audio player above, or here:
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate is located in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Get directions and explore this historic site.
