Gore Place Mansion
| Hours: | Hours Vary see below |
| In/Outdoor: | Indoor, Outdoor |
| Cost: | $$ see below |
| Category: | Historic Landmarks |
Today the house and grounds are owned and operated by the Gore Place Society, a nonprofit members organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Gore Place.
View Event Schedule.
“Take-A-Walk” Now Year-Round:
Explore the grounds of this 45-acre estate as a family! Children ages 3-9 with accompanying adults can explore the gardens, brook, and open spaces and visit the farm animals, using binoculars, a magnifying glass and seasonal activities provided in a backpack. Ring the bell at the mansion to get your backpack, and you’ll be ready for an outdoor adventure! Hours: Daily 11am 3pm. Backpack rental is $5.
Benches provided, by a grant from Crossroads Community Foundation. Parking is free. Group arrangements may be made for school groups, pre-schools, home-schools, and day-care providers. To reserve your backpack,and for group arrangements call: Susan Katz at 781-894-2798.
Parking is free. Group arrangements may be made for school groups, preschools, home-schools, and day-care providers.
The house today:
Today the house is furnished with fine art and antiques of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Christopher and Rebecca Gore had no children, so after Mrs. Gore's death, in accordance with her husband's will, the house and all its contents were sold at auction. A few of their possessions survived in the hands of nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors and have been returned to Gore Place. After 1834 Gore Place became home to several other families.
In 1921 it passed out of private hands when the Waltham Country Club established a golf course and tennis courts on the grounds. During the Depression, the country club failed and the property fell into disrepair. In 1935, the bank was about to tear down the buildings and sell off the land for housing, when Mrs. Helen Patterson gathered her friends and the financial resources necessary to preserve it. The Gore Place Society was founded that same year. For more than sixty years, Gore Place has been lovingly restored and open to the public as one of the great estates of the Federal era.
About the Gores:
Christopher Gore was born in Boston in 1758, the tenth of thirteen children of Frances and John Gore. John Gore, a successful merchant and artisan, was able to send Christopher to Harvard College (class of 1776). Christopher served in the Continental Army as a clerk with the artillery regiment of his brother-in-law Thomas Craft.
After the war, Christopher Gore chose the law as his profession and apprenticed himself for £100 to John Lowell. He was admitted as an attorney to the Bar of Suffolk County and opened his office on State Street in Boston.
Gore was unquestionably bright and ambitious, but several factors helped the young lawyer's practice to flourish. Many of Boston's older lawyers were Tories and by leaving the country, they left their clients to the younger generation.
The Revolutionary War increased the city's wealth and also the demand for services such as Gore could provide. Gore also invested in revolutionary scrip and the many new mills and toll roads that sprang up on rural land west of Boston. His fortune grew rapidly.
| HOURS | ↑ top |
Mansion Tours: Mon Wed Fri hourly 10a-2p
Mansion Tour Sat 10:30 & 12:30
Outdoor Tour Sat 11:30 & 1:30
Grounds: Dawn - Dusk
| COST | ↑ top |
Admission to the mansion tour is $12 adults, $6 children 5-12. Gore Place members free.
| WEBSITE | ↑ top |
| LOCATION | ↑ top |
52 Gore Street, Waltham, MA, 02453-6866 map
Phone: (781) 894-2798
| REVIEWS | ↑ top |
Gore Place Mansion-kids snowshoeing| RELATED LINKS | ↑ top |
- Profiles
- Localities
- Events
- Preschool Story Time: Tiny Living Things, 5/14/04-5/14/14
Info changes frequently. We cannot warrant it. Verify with Gore Place Mansion before making the trek. If you find an error, please report it...