FALMOUTH — Have you heard of Highfield Hall and Gardens? Maybe not, because although the Falmouth estate is creatively programmed with arts, culinary, and garden events for kids and adults, it’s still under the radar for most Cape Cod residents and vacationers. Time to take a look.
About 15 years ago the mansion was a sorry sight, destined for demolition. Built in 1878 for Boston’s Beebe family, the 17,000-square-foot Victorian on 700 wooded acres was one of the Cape’s first summer “cottages,’’ helping to jumpstart the area as a summer resort. After the last Beebe heir died in 1932, the property passed through several hands. Josiah K. Lilly bought the compound to keep it safe from developers. He donated portions to local organizations, including the mansion, and the rest, more than 400 acres, for conservation. But over the next two decades the house and gardens were abandoned and repeatedly vandalized.
The seed of an idea was planted in the late 1980s when local artists proposed holding art shows and plays here. In 2000, Town Meeting members authorized taking the property by eminent domain, allowing a nonprofit Historic Highfield Inc., to raise funds and begin the $8.5 million restoration that was completed in 2006.
“We really want to embrace families, and it’s working,’’ says Annie Dean, director of programs and exhibitions. Dean, who has managed collections at the Smithsonian, collaborated with the College Women’s Association of Japan to bring CWAJ’s dazzling 60th anniversary exhibition and sale of contemporary Japanese prints here, from June 26 to Sept. 15, with highlights through Oct. 31. Previous CWAJ print shows have traveled to the Library of Congress and the British Museum. For the show, “Kanreki: A 60 Year Journey,’’ Highfield is the only venue outside Japan.
Weeklong classes for children this summer will teach participants how to make terrarium zen gardens, kimonos for American Girl Dolls, prepare bento boxes, and design miniature Japanese houses. For adults, in a professional kitchen that’s also used for catered events, there are classes on cooking “Farm-to-Table with a Japanese Flair’’ as well as a series on healthy cooking and demonstrations by chefs from regional restaurants.
The renovated mansion is staid on the outside but airy and elegant indoors. The interior blends original architecture and new modifications to accommodate cultural programs and celebrations. Art is displayed throughout.
In the 19th century, the Beebe family hired architects Peabody & Stearns to design a Queen Anne home in the ornate, spindly Stick style that is among the last of its kind in New England. Look for original elements, including 15 fireplaces, each different from the next, and 10 stained glass windows whose colors glow in Cape light. Imagine keeping all 157 windows, in 31 styles, clean without the Beebe’s many servants.
The forward-thinking renovations include opening two smaller rooms to create a windowed ballroom that can seat 90 for such recent programs as a three-part lecture series on Hollywood musicals and concerts by internationally known classical and jazz musicians. Weddings are held in the Great Hall, with expansive garden views, or on the lawn beneath giant trees.
But on a recent sunny midweek afternoon, one young family and a few solo visitors had the house and gardens almost to themselves. Away from the Cape’s hubbub, they wandered inside and out, enjoying the solitude and photographing flowers and surprises along the way. The Fragment House, an outdoor sculpture of suspended pieces of sea glass, invites viewers inside to see the world through a different lens. Nearby is a playful walking labyrinth. A still-evolving Crystal Vision Earth Portal is yet another of the environmental artworks created for an exhibit two years ago.
Dean has begun developing a walk especially for people who are visually impaired. Early phases include a jingle gate, fragrant herbs in the west garden, a restored ice house, and a large fabric installation in a giant beech tree.
The Beebe’s formal Sunken Garden, restored in 2011, blooms with ever-changing seasonal color. Rhododendrons flourish along paths. In the gardens and some of the 14 miles of carriage trails in the adjacent woods, guided walks are led by docents on the first and third Thursdays of the month through October.
Picnickers and dogs on leashes are welcome.
Highfield gardens will be featured in the 2nd annual Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival on July 10 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Three free annual open houses feature craft activities, music, and demonstrations. And following Thanksgiving, there’s a 10-day holiday celebration when the house is elaborately decorated and hosts a crafts and gift gallery.
The grounds are open to the public without charge. Mansion admission is $5.
HIGHFIELD HALL AND GARDENS 56 Highfield Drive, open daily April 15-Oct. 31, 508-495-1878. www.highfieldhall.org.
Janet Mendelsohn can be reached at janet@janetmendelsohn.com.
