here - Plymouth Antiquarian Society

Hedge UpFront Campaign
2015 – 2017
W
hat’s upfront at the Hedge House
Museum? We are inviting you
to join an effort to beautify our flagship
property, re-landscape the grounds for
enhanced usage, and provide greater
security for this remarkable historical
landmark on the Plymouth waterfront.
Envision concerts, soireés and lively
gatherings on a smoothly elegant lawn,
bounded by brick-footed iron fencing,
and overlooking a breathtaking waterfront vista. Help us preserve this last
piece of open space on the Plymouth
waterfront and create a handsome new
community venue as the town’s 400th
anniversary approaches.
Above: Artist’s rendering of proposed changes to revitalize the
Hedge House frontage as a functional and attractive venue.
Hedge House Frontage:
History on the Move
T
oday the 1809 Hedge House Museum occupies a
place of pride on the Plymouth waterfront, situated above a rolling lawn overlooking the magnificent
harbor, Clark’s Island, and Long Beach. During its
long history as a residence, the house was located at
83 Court Street and faced west towards the town’s
main thoroughfare. The stylish mansion was rescued
from demolition by the Antiquarian Society in 1919,
and moved a short distance from its original site to
a nearby lot that had once been part of Plymouth’s
old waterfront district. To provide a better setting for
the historic house, the Society undertook a series of
landscape improvements at the new 126 Water Street
location in the early 1920s.
Society members converted the expansive frontage into
a sweeping lawn for the historic house, newly perched
on a convenient knoll, and created a boxwood bordered
garden area in front. Eventually they turned their attention to enclosing the property. In its heyday as a home
at 83 Court Street, the Hedge House enjoyed only a
Water Street view of Hedge House in 1932 with newly introduced
fence and gate. Note the unpaved walkway and expansive garden
area at upper right.
modest frontage, bordered by a simple white picket
fence. The new yard was Gatsby-esque in scope, and
needed a more impressive style of enclosure. The Society
opted to duplicate the white painted wooden fence and
gate from the King Caesar House in neighboring Duxbury. Deliberations about the fence began in September
of 1929, just a month before the stock market crashed.
Astonishingly, at the height of the ensuing Depression,
the Society was able to complete the construction of
a handsome fence and gate “with generous gifts from
some of our friends,” as the Board of Directors proudly
announced at the Annual Meeting of 1932.
The painted wooden fence, within a stone’s throw of
the harbor, required a level of maintenance that the
Society was often unable to provide in ensuing years.
By the 1960s, sections had rotted and been haphazardly
replaced, the original design had become a patchwork,
and the need for reconstruction was critical. The Society
struggled during years of economic recession, but in
1975 finally managed to install a white painted tubular steel fence, with rebuilt wooden columns. The new
design had no historical basis. This 40-year-old metal
fencing remains in place today. The metal is in a state
of advanced fatigue, the reconstructed wooden columns
are in disrepair, and the entire array must be replaced.
At the start of the 21st century, the Antiquarian Society
embarked on a comprehensive project to restore the
Hedge House, its flagship property, to pristine condition,
following many years of deferred maintenance. Priority
was given to the historic building and from 2002-2005,
an extensive exterior restoration was carried out, followed
by a two-year interior restoration. The handsomely restored house, with historically documented paint decoration and custom-made wallpapers based on Plymouth
examples, re-opened to the public in 2007.
Water issues in the rear yard plagued the building, and
the next phase of restoration focused on the garden area.
An engineered site drainage plan resolved damaging
water penetration, but necessitated the removal of an
existing brick garden courtyard. With good drainage in
place, a full restoration of the 1920s Colonial Revival
garden was successfully completed in 2013, based on
original plans in the archives. The following year, the
Society began planning for a major re-landscaping plan
for the front lawn of the Hedge House, including a new
and more historically appropriate perimeter.
The restored Rose T. Briggs Memorial Garden at the Hedge House.
Joseph Everett Chandler:
An Influence on the Landscape
W
A garden plan developed for the Hedge House in the 1920s.
hat kind of fencing or enclosure would be
appropriate for the frontage of the 126 Water
Street property? Historically, no one had more influence
on the museum grounds than Plymouth architect
Joseph Everett Chandler, born in town in 1863. Chandler,
a descendant of William Harlow, had assisted the
Antiquarians with the restoration of his ancestor’s 17thcentury home, which the Society acquired in 1920.
He also consulted on the landscaping for the relocated
Hedge House.
The LeBaron Bell
T
he new frontage plan features a handsome bronze
bell, inscribed with the names of LeBaron family
descendants, to be donated by Dean Francis LeBaron,
a sixth great grandson of Dr. Francis LeBaron, Plymouth’s
first French immigrant who arrived in the colony about
1694. William Hammatt, who built the Hedge House,
and the Hedge family who resided here, were direct
descendants of Dr. LeBaron. The LeBaron bell was
crafted in the Old World tradition of sand-casting at
the Perner foundry in Passau, Germany. A tangible
marker of Plymouth’s wide-ranging lineage connections,
the LeBaron bell will be a splendid and meaningful
ornament for the redesigned Hedge House lawn.
View of Chandler brickwork and iron gate on Winslow Street.
In the 1920s, Chandler prepared several designs for a
Colonial Revival garden for the Hedge site that were
partially, though never fully, executed. Preserved in the
Society’s archives, the long dormant plans formed the
basis for the recreation of the garden in 2013, which
included a stone embankment wall. Chandler had also
sketched some ideas for the front yard of the museum
site, but apparently never developed a frontage design
before his death in 1945.
Fortunately, several historical examples of Chandler’s
landscape designs still exist in Plymouth. Among the
most striking are the brick gates and walls of the Fay
family’s 1889 estate, “Bayswater,” on Sandwich Street,
and the Flemish bond brick walls and iron fencing
that border the Willoughby House on Winslow Street,
today known as the Mayflower Society House. These
surviving features are the historical inspiration for a
new Colonial Revival style frontage plan for the Hedge
House Museum. The UpFront improvements are in
keeping with the extant historic landscaping at the site,
and showcase the design talents of one of Plymouth’s
most significant hometown architects.
The LeBaron Family Bell at its current home in Lake Sunapee, New
Hampshire, with Dean Francis LeBaron (right) and Alfred Farha of
Switzerland (left), representing the family foundry that crafted the
bell for Mr. LeBaron. The bell will be transported to Plymouth to be
installed at the historic Hedge property as part of the Antiquarian
Society’s UpFront project.
The UpFront Campaign
T
he UpFront Campaign seeks to provide one of
Plymouth’s finest architectural gems, the Hedge
House Museum, with a beautiful, functional, and
historically designed landscape setting that will be
ready to enjoy for 2020, and that will endure for
generations to come.
Yes, I would like to support the Hedge UpFront Campaign!
Please print name(s) as you wish it to appear
in acknowledgments
q Check here if you wish to remain anonymous
Address
City/State/Zip
Phone
Email
q Please accept my gift of of $____________
q Please call me, I would like to discuss my
options, including naming opportunities.
Hedge UpFront Campaign
2015 – 2017
q I/We pledge the sum of $____________
Pledges are payable over two years in cash or securities.
The Plymouth Antiquarian Society will send reminders
as payments come due.
Paid herewith $
.
The UpFront Project includes:
.
Site Work/Grading
Archeology (as required by state law)
Balance $
Pledge payments to begin on
Choose one:
q Annual, 2 payments of $____________
q Semi-annual, 4 payments of $____________
Method of Payment
q Check payable to PAS
q Visa
Re-landscaping Project for the
Hedge House Frontage
q MasterCard
Card Number
Expiration Date
Authorized Cardholder Signature:
All contributions to our 501(c)3 organization are fully tax deductible
to the extent allowed by law.
Masonry Walls, Columns & Footings
Custom Iron Fencing & Gates
Pathway & Landscape Lighting
LeBaron Bell
Completion of Brick Garden Walkway
Electrical Service for Lawn Events
Irrigation System
Security Camera System
Tree Work/Plantings
Mail completed form & payment to:
Plymouth Antiquarian Society
P.O. Box 3773, Plymouth, MA 02361.
www.plymouthantiquariansociety.org
For more information, contact Donna Curtin at
508-746-0012 or email [email protected]