July 9, 2009

Hooked on Historic Homes: The Crosby Mansion

Many consider the Crosby Mansion, a 35-room mansion on state-owned land, to be one of the Cape Cod’s hidden gems. Albert Crosby built this gracious home in 1887 for his wife, Matilda. Interestingly, the structure, also known as Tawasentha, was built around the original four-room Cape house in which Crosby was born. Aside from being a residence, over the years, the building has been used as a music school, a summer camp and for weddings. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Yesterday, my husband and I were out visiting thrift stores and decided to drive by the Crosby mansion to see if it was open. The building contractor, who had been there working on the house, was getting ready to leave for the day. He told us the house is only open four weekends during the summer for tours. He was waiting for someone to pick him up and offered to give us a tour of the house until his ride came. I was so excited to finally be able to see the interior of this amazing Cape Cod mansion!

The contractor explained that the house is maintained by the Friends of Crosby Mansion. They had recently received some grant money to complete some renovations, and he had just finished replacing the arches in front of the house.

This was the first room we saw when we entered the home. The fireplace, coffered ceiling and wood paneling were impressive!

We were told that there are a total of 17 fireplaces in the mansion. Check out the carving on the door mouldings.

This parlor was part of the original house.
We were told this was the "man room", which originally had a billiards table in it. The door to the left is a bathroom. I love the bear rug on the floor.
Tea anyone?
Here is another parlor. From what I could tell, most of the wallpaper in the house is original. The chairs are gorgeous!

Check out the railings, crown moulding and coffered ceiling.
This room appears to be a child's room, as you can see by the toys. I love the dollhouse below.

Here is the second bedroom we visited, which also appears to be a child's room.

It looks like Matilda had her own sewing room. What a pretty chair!
Unfortunately, our tour was cut short when our tour guide's ride arrived. However, we were happy to have been able to tour the home and see everything we did.

Here is one of the gardens.
Crosby's Landing is at the end of the street where the mansion is located.


I also searched on the Internet for any information regarding Albert Crosby and came across this newspaper article published in the New York Times on July 12, 1899.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Crosby Mansion as much as we did. Thanks for stopping by.




Thanks to Julia from Hooked on Houses for sponsoring Hooked on Fridays. Please visit Julia's blog, for more Hooked on Friday links.



Dollar Rent-a-Car, Inc.

24 comments:

Porch Days said...

What a fabulous house. Thanks for showing it.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Wow! What a great tour! :) Visiting from Julia's party. :)

Cristin said...

Fun home tour! thanks.

xo,
cristin
www.simplifiedbee.blogspot.com

marmielu said...

How beautiful! You were so lucky to get a "private" tour. That was fun. I love old houses myself.
Mary Lou

The Thrifty Countrywoman said...

What a great home! It's a mansion, but still looks so homey. I especially like the built in settle benches in the man room. Thanks for sharing!

Joan said...

What a wonderful tour! I love the "man room"...would love to see that bathroom. =)

frugal southern mom said...

Wow love the house! Thanks for the tour. It was wonderful! Sounds like you showed up at the right time for a private tour!

Shelia said...

Oh, I love olden houses too! Love how you made each photo look like a real photo! You're the smartest one too!
BE a sweetie,
shelia :)

Rhonda in OK said...

beautiful home and garden!
can you just imagine how big of a staff it took to keep that home clean and in working order?
I'm glad they got a grant to keep it open and in good condition.

darnold23 said...

Such a beautiful place. Thanks for the tour and thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you will join with me in August when I begin hosting Crock Pot Wednesdays on August 5 at diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com. Thanks again for sharing.

Courtney said...

i love the yellow outside and oh my gosh what a to die for staircase!!

susan said...

I enjoyed the house tour but really enjoyed the newspaper article--He was a scoundrel! I am very glad newspapers don't include as much peronal information now--oh wait--there is always the Nat'l Enquirer for enquiring minds ! :) Have fun at the beach!

Rhonda @ Shellbelle's Tiki Hut said...

What a beautiful home, I just love that first fireplace! I enjoyed this tour, the tour of the general store AND your recipe for bugs. I have several of those traps in my yard, so I'll give your mixture a try. I do not like wasps! They got me last year when I was trimming some bushes and stuck my hand in an area they build a home. Ouch!

thriftylittleblog said...

Beautiful! It's too bad that the giant houses that people are building these days are missing all that character.

Kristi said...

Thank you so much for taking us on the tour with you. I just adore historical homes, and that one was a beauty!

Brenda said...

What a grand place! They sure don't build them like they use to. With all the little details. Thanks for the tour.
Brenda

Blondie's Journal said...

What a beautiful home. The staircase is stuning!! I'm so glad the home is being preserved and is open to the public. Thanks so much for sharing this!! :-)

xoxo
Jane

Sherry C said...

This is the kind of home I was born to live in! And such a perfect location, too!
Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Good for all of you!
Sherry

Renae said...

I love the exterior of this home but must say I would have to update the interior, although I can appreciate from whence it came! Love the parlor!
Blessings...

Shari @ My Cottage of Bliss said...

What an amazing home! I can't even imagine a house big enough to have 17 fireplaces! The view is pretty awesome too. :)

Bill said...

How lucky for us that the contractor gave you a special behind-the-scenes tour!

Thank you for sharing the great pictures!!

Bill

Angela said...

Not only did I enjoy the tour, but I want the house,,LOL

linknblogs said...

These photographs are truly awesome! What a beautiful old home! Not only is all of the furniture incredible, but check out all of the millwork! 17 impressive fireplaces, unique carvings above the doors, wainscoting, beautiful hardwood floors. This is millwork overload, in the best kind of way. Thank you for sharing all of these nice photographs!

robin sher said...

I was lucky to be a camper here for 3 summers in the late 60's early 70's. The loss of the lodge is really sad - and seeing the interiors refreshed is inspiring. When I was there grand bedrooms were broken up into double rooms and we had 2x4 bunk beds. I saw the first moonwalk with all my fellow campers sitting on the stairs in the main hall. Ah, memories.

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