Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/48190
ne Environment Estate property. of Reservations, on the Crane The Hot Seat Andy Kendall, president of the Trustees History, Habitat, and the Beach The Trustees of Reservations are on a mission to make you care about the environment. By Jeanne O'Brien Coffey W 110 nshoremag.com December/Holiday 2011 andering the manicured lawns surrounding the Crane Estate in Ipswich, the Trustees of Reservations' most-visited property, visitors would never guess what's just beneath the surface: a cavernous brick-lined chamber holding up to 135,000 gallons of water. When Chicago industrialist Richard T. Crane, Jr. built his palatial summer home in 1928, he planned carefully for the estate's water needs, using state-of- the-art technology—after all, the Cranes made their fortunes manufacturing plumbing supplies. As part of a plan that included wells throughout the estate, he arranged to harvest rainwater from the roof of the Great House and store it in an underground cistern next door. Over the years, that cistern was forgotten, says Robert Murray, super- intendent of the Crane Estate, as water lines easily brought potable water up Castle Hill. The echoing chamber stood empty, just below the surface, for per- haps 60 years, until plans got underway for a major replanting on the Allée—the storied tree-lined lawn that rolls from the Great House down to the sea. photographs by adam detour