The Codman House (also known as The Grange) is a historic house set on a estate at 36 Codman Road,

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWest region ...

. Thanks to a gift by Dorothy Codman, it has been owned by

Historic New England Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...

since 1969 and is open to the public June 1–October 15 on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. An admission fee is charged. The main house was originally

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group **Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three script ...

in style and was built in approximately 1735 by Chambers Russell I, Esq., the de facto founder of Lincoln, Massachusetts. It was enlarged in the 1790s to its current three-story

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several in ...

by John Codman, brother-in-law of Chambers Russell III and executor of his estate. This was perhaps with some involvement of noted American architect

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...

. The interior is extensively furnished with portraits, memorabilia, and art works collected in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. Various rooms preserve the decorative schemes of every era, including those of noted interior designer

Ogden Codman, Jr. Ogden Codman Jr. (January 19, 1863 – January 8, 1951) was an American architect and interior decorator in the Beaux-Arts styles, and co-author with Edith Wharton of ''The Decoration of Houses'' (1897), which became a standard in American inter ...

The former carriage house, built c. 1870 to a design by

Snell & Gregerson Snell may refer to: People and fictional characters *Snell (surname), list of people and fictional characters with the surname *Snell (given name), list of people with the name Geography United States *Snell, Virginia, an unincorporated community ...

, is also located on the property. Until the 1980s, it was original to its use as a stable and an early auto garage and contained many artifacts of both. A few of those artifacts continue to be on display in the carriage house including an early gas pump and a large machine powered lathe. The grounds have been farmed almost continuously since 1735 and now also include an Italian garden, circa 1899, with perennial beds, statuary, and a

reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...

filled with

waterlilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a Serial imagery, series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionism, Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his Fondation Monet in Giverny, flower garden at Fond ...

, as well as an English

cottage garden The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, it depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure. Ho ...

, circa 1930. The Codman Estate 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 artist ...

as "The Grange" in 1974.

References

External links

Codman Estate information at Historic New England's web site

Codman Estate rental information
{{Historic New England Houses completed in 1741 Historic house museums in Massachusetts Federal architecture in Massachusetts Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Houses in Lincoln, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic New England Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

See also

References

External links