Who’d have guessed a place like this could be the result of a fortune made in toilets and other plumbing fixtures? Say hello (or perhaps cheerio) to Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, a stellar Trustees of Reservation property located right on the Atlantic Coast in Ipwich, Massachusetts.

Castle Hill in Ipswich is one of the those opulent Gilded Age mansions, like the famed mansions of Newport, originally built as a summer getaway. It was owned by the Crane family, heirs to the fortune of the Crane Co. of Chicago. The Cranes had such high taste and deep pockets that they actually tore down their original Italian Renaissance Revival home and replaced it with the Stuart-style mansion that occupies the property today. The main structure features 59 rooms, with most of the original architectural details intact, as well as 21 outbuildings, multiple formal and informal gardens, and a pair of life-size chess boards.

The mansion at Castle Hill is a stunner, no doubt about it. But what really makes this 165-acre drumlin of a property spectacular is its rolling landscape that leads down to a phenomenal lookout over Ipswich Bay. The property also has four miles of walking and hiking trails populated by a variety of songbirds.

At least two trails lead down to Crane Beach, a four-mile-long stretch of sand and sea that’s also one of the world’s most significant nesting sites for the piping plover. If you’re short on cash, skip the $30 fee to park at the beach. Instead, for $15, you can stow your car in the main lot, take a scenic stroll across the property, and then amble on down to the beach.

Scroll through a few of my outtakes here, then see the full Snapshot Travel Guide on the Greylock Glass.

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