Greycourt State Park

Greycourt State Park
Massachusetts State Park
Location of Greycourt State Park in Massachusetts
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Essex
City Methuen, Massachusetts
Location
 - coordinates
Area 24 acres (10 ha)
Managed by Methuen Public Works

Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)
Present day Greycourt
Website : Mass DCR Lawrence Heritage State Park

Greycourt State Park (alternately Grey Court) is a 24 acre Massachusetts state park located in Methuen, built atop the restored ruins of the Charles H. Tenney estate. The park is a satellite of Lawrence Heritage State Park. Department of Conservation and Recreation staff works closely with the Methuen Public Works department who look after it on a daily basis.

The Tenney Castle Gatehouse is associated with this property and it is under special permit with the Methuen Historical Society.

Contents

Grey Court

Grey Court (aka Tenney Castle) designed by Carrère and Hastings, prominent New York architects, was the centerpiece of the Charles Tenney's 75-acre (300,000 m2) rolling estate. Begun in 1890 and completed two years later, the mansion was modeled after Château d'Yquem, the ancestral seat of Montaigne, and served as the Tenney family's summer home.[1] Ernest W. Bowditch, designed the grounds. He had laid out several estates in Newport, Rhode Island, including Marble House, W. K. Vanderbilt's estate; designed Tuxedo Park in New York; and landscaped Colgate University. His designs for Grey Court's surrounds won a prestigious horticultural prize in 1902.[2]

From New England families, genealogical and memorial a record of the achievements of her people in the making of commonwealths and the founding of a nation by William Richard Cutter (1913)

The town of Methuen, Massachusetts, where he makes his home in summer, has been largely benefited by his generosity. This picturesque little town has been greatly beautified by Mr. Tenney. His magnificent estate, laid out by modern landscape artists, is a beautiful park in itself and is always open to the public. The mansion, modeled after the Chateau Yquem, the ancestral seat of the great Montaigne, crowns a sightly hill, and is approached by a winding driveway, a mile long. Southwest of the mansion is an unenclosed quadrangle in the Italian style, two sides of which form an open corridor, its roof supported upon pillars of richly colored marble. The view from the hill overlooking the city of Lawrence and the Andovers is superb. [2]

Gatehouse

Now home to the Methuen Historical Society and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Tenney Gatehouse was originally a rough stone farmhouse built by Richard Whittier in 1830. Tenney purchased it in 1882 and remodeled to become the entry point to Greycourt.[3]

State Park

On January 11, 2001, the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives in General Court approved $1,750,000 for the rehabilitation and repair of the Greycourt State Park, including public safety improvements and courtyard renovations.[4] The park offers wooded walking trails and scenic landscape and is open dawn to dusk. [5] In recent years the park has hosted many city activities, such as a summer concert series[6], paranormal investigation fundraisers[7], and the city's annual Fall Festivals[8].

References

  1. ^ [|Gagnon, Dan] (29 August 2008). Methuen: An Eclectic History. The History Press. pp. 128. ISBN 1596294221. 
  2. ^ a b Cutter, William Richard.families, genealogical and memorial: a record of the a record of the achievements of her people in the making of commonwealths and the founding of a nation, Volume 2, Page 566. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913. accessed 2010.07.09
  3. ^ MethuenHistory.org Charles H Tenney Estate Pleasant St. accessed 2010.10.09
  4. ^ "Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Department Of Environmental Management. / 2100-0010 Acts 2000 Chapter 410, Section 2a". http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2000/Chapter410. Retrieved 2010-11-09. 
  5. ^ Mass DCR website
  6. ^ "Summer concert series starts next week in Methuen". Eagle Tribune. May 30, 2008. http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1876435125/Summer-concert-series-starts-next-week-in-Methuen. Retrieved 2010-12-19. 
  7. ^ "Paranormal activities will benefit historical society". Eagle Tribune. October 6, 2010. http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x921677996/Paranormal-activities-will-benefit-historical-society/print. Retrieved 2010-12-19. 
  8. ^ "Methuen City of Family Fall Festival". http://www.ci.methuen.ma.us/Documents/MAYOR/HALLOWEEN07.pdf. Retrieved 2010-12-19.