Built in 1800, this stately home on Old Common Road was the dwelling of Thomas Safford, who was a baker. Beginning in 1890, and for many years afterward, the philanthropic Pauline Revere Thayer maintained the place as Goodrest a vacation home for working women and girls from Boston.
A Lancaster resident from 1929 until her death, Rochelle Philemon Kilgore (1887-1993) lived to be almost 106 years of age. This English professor jointed the staff at Atlantic Union College in 1936. After retiring in 1960, she stayed on campus, mentoring students and actively participating in alumni affairs. She was also a member of the Lancaster Historical Commission for many years.
Haskell Hall, on the campus of Atlantic Union College, is the main administration building today. It was begun in 1938. However, due to a shortage of building materials, it was not completed until 1952. It is located near the site f the town's early ministerial lands.
Hawthorne Hill was built on George Hill in 1904 as a country estate for the Bayard Thayer family. This ambitious undertaking combined some of the finest Boston talent of the day. Architect Guy Lowell worked with landscape architect and brother-in-law Robson Sargent on the placement of the house and gardens. (Robson's father was renowned Charles S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum.) Later, landscape architects Arthur Little and Herbert Browne did alterations on the gardens, and Ogden Codman (a nephew of John Hubbard Sturgis) did the estate's interior design. Since then, the property has had several owners. In 1953, the estate was a Catholic retreat house known locally as the Cenacle. Most recently, it was the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center, which was established in 1986 by Dr. Deepak Chopra.
Note the ceiling detail, ornate furnishings, and the large tapestry on the left. Though impressive in Lancaster, this mansion, at 30,000 square feet, was actually small compared to others of its day. The Breakers, the Vanderbilt cottage in Newport, Rhode Island, is 120,000 square feet.
In 1906, a series of photographs featuring Hawthorne Hill appeared in a journal called the Architectural Review. Since this was right after the estate had been built, it gives some wonderful early views. Shown here is the lawn front, which provided a view of the Bolton hills to the east.
Note the elaborate detail and furnishings of this room. Though the estate was beautiful, Bayard and Ruth Thayer, who lived in a stylish townhouse on Beacon Street in Boston (which later became well known as the setting for Cheers), spent only limited amounts of time in Lancaster. They would arrive in May for a brief visit and then return in the late summer or fall for the hunting season.
The stable at Hawthorne Hill was done in the Arts and Crafts style. This movement found its expression in the United States from around 1890 to 1920. The building was designed to fit into the natural environment as if it were meant to be there. The Thayers were widely known for their fine horses and carriages.
Designed to face Mount Wachusett, the matching wrought-iron gates were ornamented with metal wreaths, lotus flowers, and cornucopias. When the estate was planned, a pathway was cut through the trees to create a vista revealing Wachusett. One could look through the gate frame to see the sunset over the mountain. This framing element was intended to give the view dramatic power.
This spacious entrance hall is dominated by a white curving staircase with balusters elaborately carved in a floral motif. The Four Seasons statues, right, are now housed in the Thayer Memorial Library.
Located on East George Hill Road, this home was built in 1957 by well-known town historian Herbert Hosmer. In building it, he incorporated materials from his former residence, the Capt. Samuel Ward House, which had been sold and torn down to make way for a new men's dormitory, Lenheim Hall, at Atlantic Union College.
The dining room mantel was of yellow marble with a white marble shelf and ornaments. A large portrait of Nathaniel Thayer Sr. hangs over the mantel; nearby are two marble busts of distinguished Thayer family members.