MassachusettsWistariahurst, the former estate of the Skinner family, occupies a city block in Holyoke and includes a clapboard mansion, carriage house, lawns, and formal gardens with an oriental teahouse; its name derives from the wisteria vines covering its outer walls. The oldest section is a three-story square house built about 1848 in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, and moved to Holyoke in sections in 1874, at which time its roof was altered to a Mansard style. A conservatory and basilica-plan music hall designed by Luce of Philadelphia were added in 1913, and a two-story main hall with a marble lobby and circular staircase designed by Wilson Eyre was added in 1927. For three generations the Skinners were leading American manufacturers of silk and satin, relocating to Holyoke in 1874 at the invitation of the Holyoke Water Power Company after a flood destroyed their Williamsburg mill; family members were also noted philanthropists and patrons of art and music. Katherine Skinner deeded the property to the City of Holyoke for cultural purposes in 1959, and it became the Holyoke Museum of Natural History and Art.
Wistariahurst
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Wistariahurst is a landmark in Holyoke, Hampden County. It is one of 3,654 landmarks documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.
The site sits at 42.2050, -72.6171 near Holyoke. The nearest cataloged historic site is Merrick Carriage House (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Merrick, Joseph S. and Florence House, Ducharme, J. Garage, and Cordes, Frank House.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
Wistariahurst is a historic house museum at 238 Cabot Street in Holyoke, the former estate of the silk manufacturer William Skinner. The mansion was originally built in 1868 in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, but after the Mill River Flood of 1874 destroyed Skinner's mills there, he had the house moved to Holyoke, where he rebuilt his business. From 1930 to 1959 its music room housed the Belle Skinner Collection of old musical instruments, later given to Yale University, and since 1959 the property has operated as the Wistariahurst Museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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