The Hunnewell Estates Historic District is an

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

between the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

and Lake Waban in Wellesley and

Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, about 17 miles west of Boston. It consists of the large group of 18th to 21st century agricultural and estate properties with farmland, gardens, residences, and landscapes of the Hunnewell and Welles families. The properties in the Historic District are still largely owned and occupied by members of the Hunnewell family. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1988.Arnoldia issue 64/4 - Hunnewell Estates
. accessed 5.15.2011 All of the properties within the district are private residences, and are not open to the public.

History

The origin of the Hunnewell estates dates to 1763 when Samuel Welles (1725-1799) made his first purchase of Indian lands in Natick and West Needham (later Wellesley). Welles was a descendant of

Thomas Welles Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from ...

(1594-1660), 1st Treasurer and then Governor of the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

. The properties descended to Samuel's granddaughter Isabella Pratt Welles and her husband, successful railroad financier and businessman,

landscape designer Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

, and horticulturalist H. Hollis Hunnewell (1810-1902), and continued with their adult children and the following generations.Arnoldia vol.12, issue 9-12; Dec. 1952 - "The Hunnewell Arboretum, 1852 - 1952"
. accessed 5.15.2011 Mr. Hunnewell and his family gave much to the town of Wellesley (formerly West Needham), which was named after his wife's family - the Welles, and to Boston, with civic

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

in numerous fields. They also were generous to the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

community for over 75 years via importing, testing, and distributing many new plant introductions, estate

site planning A site plan or a plot plan is a type of drawing used by architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and engineers which shows existing and proposed conditions for a given area, typically a parcel of land which is to be modified. Sites plan ...

and

garden design Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...

examples, and supportive leadership in the

Massachusetts Horticultural Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to MassHort, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusetts. It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States. In its m ...

. Horatio Hollis Hunnewell was especially interested in coniferous and broad-leaved

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

s, and Asian

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s. At their peak during the early 20th century 'American Country Place' era, there were twenty contiguous Hunnewell estates along Washington Street and Pond Road in southwest Wellesley. The estates have now been in the Welles-Hunnewell family for eight generations.

Conservation

The family has placed hundreds of acres in the district under perpetual conservation restrictions, primarily with

The Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

, protecting Lake Waban and the

, as well as the farmland, gardens, landscapes, vistas, and natural native landscapes from development. These restrictions, starting in 1974, were among the first placed with the Trustees of Reservations. None of the properties are open to the public. However, while maintaining its property rights in this regard, the family until March 2020 had traditionally allowed members of the neighboring

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

community to enter the properties to walk the private path around Lake Waban. Then, consistent with the closure of the Wellesley College campus to the public in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the lakeside path on the properties was also temporarily closed. Most recently, after a brief reopening of the trail and for reasons unrelated to the Covid-19 pandemic, chain link fences were constructed in December 2021 by Wellesley College blocking trail access on both sides of the Hunnewell property, preventing walkers from traversing the Hunnewells' rhododendron grove, obtaining a closeup view of the topiary gardens and circumnavigating Lake Waban.

Historic district

The district includes the original Welles homestead, the Hunnewell Farm, and the eight contiguous country houses and outbuildings

H. H. Hunnewell Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (July 27, 1810 – May 20, 1902) was an American railroad financier, philanthropist, amateur botanist, and one of the most prominent horticulturists in America in the nineteenth century. Hunnewell was a partner in the ...

built for himself and seven of his nine children: *"Welles House" (1770) -

Colonial style American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. ...

original country homestead of the Welles family of Boston and Paris. *" H. H. Hunnewell estate" (1851) -

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

residence of

(1810-1902) and his wife Isabella Pratt Welles, designed by

Arthur Gilman Arthur Delevan Gilman (November 5, 1821, Newburyport, Massachusetts – July 11, 1882, Syracuse, New York) was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects. Life and career ...

, and including renowned lakeside Italian Garden (1854), the first

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

garden in the United States, and Pinetum (1867). In 1865-1866, two gate lodges were built and a large conservatory was added to the residence, all designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant. In addition to these and other outbuildings, the estate includes the 1755 house of Captain Aaron Smith, who led a company of 70

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

to the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

. Mr. Hunnewell was his own landscape architect and did not employ a professional firm to lay out his grounds; his original design is essentially completely intact. *"The Cottage" (1870) - Queen Anne style guest cottage, designed by John Sturgis, and including 1923 landscape design by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law ...

. *"The Oaks" (1871) - residence of Arthur Hunnewell (1845-1904), designed by John Sturgis, burned in 1891, and replaced with a new residence designed by Shaw & Hunnewell, with first private

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

in New England (1892), in use until World War II. *"Walter Hunnewell House" (1875) - Stick style residence of Walter Hunnewell (1844-1921), designed by

Ware & Van Brunt Henry Van Brunt FAIA (September 5, 1832 – April 8, 1903) was a 19th-century American architect and architectural writer. Life and work Van Brunt was born in Boston in 1832 to Gershom Jacques Van Brunt and Elizabeth Price Bradlee. Van Brun ...

and including many of the same elements as their design for

Memorial Hall A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''. History of the Memorial Hall In the aft ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, which was designed and built contemporaneously. In 1881

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...

redesigned the front entry and one interior room. *"Hill Hurst" (1883) - brick Château style residence of Hollis Hunnewell (1836-1884), designed by Shaw & Hunnewell, and including 1892 squash courts, being the first of their kind in the United States. *"Hunnewell Farm" (1887) - 30 acre working farm on the Natick/Wellesley line, purchased by John Welles in 1814, though farmed since colonial times. The current large barn, with a main structure measuring 90' x 40' and a 10,000 bale capacity in the haylofts, was built in 1887. *"The Cedars" (1891) - residence of Henry Sargent Hunnewell (1854-1931), designed by Shaw & Hunnewell, and including a large landscape designed by Charles Eliot and organized around long directed 'view avenues' to Morse's Pond and other features. The original house was pulled down in 1953 and replaced with a more modest brick dwelling in 1954. *"The Morrill House" (1775) - residence of Dr. Isaac Morrill, purchased by John Welles in 1836, and passed from him to his daughter Isabella Pratt Welles, wife of H. H. Hunnewell. The house was greatly enlarged in 1891 along plans of Shaw & Hunnewell as a residence for Jane Welles Hunnewell (1851-1936) and her husband Francis Williams Sargent. Jane Hunnewell Sargent was a grandmother of

Francis W. Sargent Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd Lieutenant Govern ...

, Governor of Massachusetts from 1969-1975. *"The Pines" (1891) - residence of Isabella Pratt Hunnewell (1849-1934) and her husband Robert Gould Shaw, designed by Shaw & Hunnewell. Mr. Shaw is not to be confused with his cousin,

Robert Gould Shaw Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into a prominent Boston abolitionist family, he accepted command of the first all-black regiment (the 54th Mas ...

, who commanded the African-American 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the US Civil War. This property is no longer in the family, having been sold to

in the 1970s.

References

External links

''Arnoldia bulletin''; "Private Pleasures Derived From Tradition, The Hunnewell Estates Historic District"
— ''district's history and features (Harvard Arnold Arboretum bulletin article).''
''Arnoldia Bulletin''; "The Hunnewell Arboretum, 1852-1951"
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Gardens in Massachusetts Protected areas of Norfolk County, Massachusetts The Trustees of Reservations Wellesley, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

History

Conservation

Historic district

See also

References

External links