Gore Place

05/16/2019

Another easy to find rainbow is the variety of plants for sale starting tomorrow! #RainbowMW

Friday and Saturday, 8-3 in front of the Farmer's Cottage. Cash or credit card accepted.

05/16/2019

Today's theme is #RainbowMW.

We can find a rainbow in the mansion, can you? Hint: purple is the hardest.

05/15/2019

Today is #PlayMW.

Did you know that Mansions of Happiness was a popular board game in the 1800s? It was meant to encourage good behavior.

05/15/2019

The Gore Place Plant Sale - Gore Place

Our Plant Sale is coming up at the end of the week! It's rain or shine, and next week looks warm so get your gardens/planters ready.

Details: https://goreplace.org/event/gp-plant-sale/2019-05-17/

May 17 & 18, 2019 Friday & Saturday 8-3, while supplies last Featuring a select group of tomatoes Herbs from Gilbertie’s Farm Perennials Due to unforeseen circumstances, there will be limited inventory this year. It’s not only the selection that makes this sale special; it’s also the chance to...

05/14/2019

Pushing Chain - Gore Place

Hope to see you tonight!

Pushing Chain is a folky-tonk duo based in the northern reaches of Minnesota, featuring Boyd Blomberg on guitar and vocals and Adam Moe on fiddle and vocals. Boyd and Adam have been making music together for more than 20 years, and they believe in strong harmonies, sad songs, big laughs, that there....

05/14/2019

Today’s #MuseumWeek theme is #SecretsMW. Can you guess the secret to this self-closing door?

05/13/2019

Happy Museum Week! To celebrate today's theme of "Women in Culture," the following passage is an excerpt from "Setting Out to Best Advantage: At Home with Christopher & Rebecca Gore," written by Elisabeth Donaghy Garrett that details Rebecca Gore's interest in architecture and mechanics:

“Who the architect/s was or were remains one of the many mysteries of the [Gore Place]. Certainly, all evidence suggests that Rebecca Amory Payne played a central and unusually significant part in its design. On occasion, in this period, women did assist in determining layout and room usage for their comfort and convenience…but it was highly unusual for a woman to be involved in drawing up plans and designs, exterior or interior.

Rebecca Gore was born a generation before there was much emphasis on the importance of a girl’s education. The details of her schooling – at home or in town – are unknown and little of her own writing is known to exist. By all accounts, she demonstrated those virtues desired in a wife, being ‘Virtuous, Sensible, good-natured, complaisant, complying, & of a Cheerful Disposition.’ She was a supportive and dutiful wife, ‘fond of retirement and domestic quiet,’ and distinguished for ‘a mind above ordinary women.’ Further, though childless, ‘Mrs. Gore’s natural fondess’ was ‘such for children’ that, in the words of her brother, though ‘without children she was a mother to those of two families.’ Indeed her twin nephews, Edward William and William Edward Payne, and the five sons of their friends, Rufus and Mary King, benefited from the Gores’ hospitality, nurture, supervision and advice from infancy through adulthood, whether in London, Paris, Boston or Waltham.

That she had mechanical ability, a propensity for and an interest in mechanics, we might infer from a letter the bemused Christopher Gore wrote from Boston on February 1, 1792, to Rufus King, in New York, ‘If the clock you speak of is not sold, I will thank you to purchase it for me…Mrs. Gore thinks she can soon understand its machinery.’ The letter suggests that Rebecca Gore had a certain self confidence, a real fascination in how things work, and a lack of concern for strict boundaries in regard to appropriate male/female interests and pursuits. That Mrs. Gore, particularly, had an interest in architecture and the way rooms work together is inferred in Rufus King’s note of April 10, 1807 in which he sent along for Mrs. Gore’s study and comment, a floor plan of a house he was building – ‘Enclosed I send Mrs. Gore a plan of the distribution of my house.’ Evidence of her interest in architecture, landscape design, and the whole tout ensemble can be read in a July 18, 1800 letter from John Codman in London telling his wife, a cousin of Mrs. Gore’s, about a discussion the two had had on the merits of British house design, and of her suggestions regarding improvements at the Codman family home in Lincoln, Massachusetts...[John Codman] wrote, ‘Mrs. Gore and myself have been planning improvements at Lincoln. She says it is the handsomest place in America & that it might be made a l’Anglaise with ease. I like her plan that the foreyard should be thrown into a lawn that carriages may drive to the front door. The house should be hid from sight from the road by trees, and the barn from the house. It is astonishing how this is managed here.’”

Clearly, Rebecca Gore was an intelligent woman who understood the aesthetics and complexities of male-dominated interests. We celebrate her today as a woman of culture in both male and female spheres of influence, and admire her passion for design and beauty. Who else comes to mind when you hear the phrase "women in culture?"

#MuseumWeek #WomenInCulture

05/10/2019

Evening tours of the beautiful 1806 mansion are offered on select Fridays throughout the year..

Hope to see you tonight!

Please note that this Moonlight Tour will start from the mansion and not the Carriage House.

Evening tours of the beautiful 1806 mansion are offered on select Fridays throughout the year at Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts.

05/09/2019

Starting to paint in the stairwell. Such a pretty shade of green!

05/08/2019

It’s spring cleaning in the office, and these Metz Plan Car labels from the early 1900s were rediscovered in a box.

Charles Metz was the last private owner of Gore Place.

05/08/2019

Program - #MuseumWeek 2019

Museum Week is next week! Get excited for 7 themes, one for each day.

Dear friends in museums, art galleries, libraries, archival institutions and science centres worldwide, #MuseumWeek is back for a fifth edition and will be held April 23-29, 2018! Attached is some useful information about this year’s program to help you get ready!

05/08/2019

Kids & Family - Gore Place

We have a few spots for both Tot Time at the Nature Playscape and Tot Time at the Farm next week.

Both are open-ended outdoor programs for children 1.5-5/6 with a caregiver.

Kids & Family Programs at Gore Place   Our historic house and 50 acres offer family-friendly programming. From mansion tours for baby wearing caregivers to open-ended nature play, we have something for families of all ages and abilities. Please also check the Events page for other family-friendly e...

05/07/2019

Horsehair plaster is going up in the restored stairwell.

05/07/2019

Free Fun Fridays | Highland Street Foundation

We’re excited to announce that we are among the 100 institutions across Massachusetts participating in this year’s Free Fun Friday initiative, thanks to our partnership with the Highland Street Foundation!

Admission will be free on August 9. We look forward to seeing you! For more info, visit: http://www.highlandstreet.org/programs/free-fun-fridays

05/06/2019

Plant Sale at Gore Place: Heirloom Tomatoes, Annuals, Herbs, and Perennials

Summer is coming...

So get your perennials, annuals, herbs, and more at the Plant Sale in 2 weeks!

Plant Sale features vegetable garden transplants including many varieties of hard-to-find hybrid & heirloom tomatoes, annuals, herbs, & perennials!

05/06/2019

Why not take mom on a Moonlight Tour this Friday evening for an early Mother's Day treat?

You'll see the 1806 mansion designed by Rebecca Gore and hear about life in the early 1800s.

https://goreplace.org/event/moonlight-evening-tours-2019-03-01/2019-05-10/

05/06/2019

Please note:

Due to maintenance in the Carriage House, tours will start in the mansion all week. Also Take-A-Walk backpacks are not available this week.

05/03/2019

Our family staircase is almost done being rebuilt to what we think it looked like. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of it going up. Thanks Peter Hamm!

05/02/2019

We have a winner for our #SheepFest32 photo contest!

Tessalina Sofia snapped this photo of the newborn lambs. Her IG handle is @tessalinasofia

Congrats!

05/01/2019

This past April school vacation, Gore Place hosted an art workshop for children in grades 3-6 to create moving stories through their art. The week-long program challenged participants to use low-tech materials to create artwork that moved physically or used optical illusion to showcase movement. By the end of the week, participants had created large and small moving panoramas, puppets, zoetropes, artist trading cards, and camera obscuras from materials that could be found around home. Overall, the children had a great time collaborating together on a large art project, while also having the opportunity to express themselves in smaller, individual activities! Be on the lookout for more upcoming art programs at Gore Place!

For the large moving panorama, participants illustrated a Mad Libs story they created about Earth Day. Their script as follows:

"Next week we will be celebrating Earth Day! Earth Day began on April 22, 1970 when millions of horses wanted to protect the environment. There are 16 ways everyone can help our planet. One thing I could do is ride my tiger or take a frog to travel instead of using a car. I can barf off the lights when I leave a room. I can plant 2,009 trees to provide shelter for animals like a dragon or a lion, and improve our air quality. And of course it is important to recycle! I can recycle New York, an elephant, and a banana, I think? Maybe I could try to run my own garden, or fart local food too. Earth Day is an explosive time to walk and protect our planet. Even if these ways to help seem small, all of these hairy actions add up!"

04/30/2019

We've got some highlights from Saturday to share! Many thanks to @Eric Workman for being our event photographer for the big day.

Thanks to all who joined us at the Sheepshearing Festival! See you next year for the 33rd Annual Festival on April 25, 2020!

04/30/2019

Our Living Salad Bowl Workshop is this Sunday! We still have a few spots left.

At this workshop, noted gardener and floral designer, Scott Clarke, will teach you how to make a beautiful and edible arrangement. You will plant a living saladbowl with a wonderful variety of greens including red and green leaf lettuce, chard, and spicy micro greens, all cut-and-come-again varieties. Enjoy your salad-fixings all season long! Appropriate organic soil, container, and transplants will be provided.

https://goreplace.org/event/living-salad-bowl-workshop/

04/29/2019

Did you see the lambs born in the shearing tent DURING Sheepshearing on Saturday? They’re adorable!

Thanks Eric Workman for getting this awesome photo!

04/29/2019

THANK YOU to everyone who attended, volunteered, and worked the event! You all helped make it a success which keeps our museum and grounds open to the public year-round!

04/29/2019

Our Plant Sale is May 17-19, 2019

04/27/2019

It's here! It's Sheepshearing Day!

Tickets are available at the gates and online.

Share your photos and tag us #sheepfest32, and we'll pick a favorite.

04/26/2019

Reminder: there are no regular mansion tours on Saturday, April 27.

04/26/2019

The weather will be dry tomorrow for the festival! Woohoo!

04/26/2019

Looking for Sheepshearing info?

Event is rain or shine.

Tickets can be purchased at the gates or online. $20 for adults, free for kids 12 & under and Gore Place members. Cash or credit. Online tickets: https://goreplace.org/sheepshearing-festival/

If you bought tickets online, please have your email confirmation ready on your phone to show at the gates. Or have a print out of the confirmation.

No pets.

Free parking.

Here's parking info: Free parking onsite (opens at 9:30am) and free parking at 43 Foundry Ave., Waltham (EDC) and 57 Stanley Ave., Watertown (Jewish Community Day School) with a free shuttle service to the South Gate. The free shuttle starts picking up at satellite parking at 8:45 am for vendors.

We will have food vendors on site.

Here's our accessibility and family-friendliness FAQ sheet: http://goreplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Sheepshearing-Festival-Accessibility-and-Family-FAQ-sheet-2019.pdf

Hashtag is #SheepFest32

Here's the map & schedule: http://goreplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/32_SHEEPFestivalBrochureFINAL.pdf

2019 Participant list: https://goreplace.org/uncategorized/2019-sheepshearing-participants/

04/25/2019

Our flock is ready for their haircuts this Saturday.

04/25/2019

The map and program are printed and ready for Saturday! We've made them larger to improve accessibility as well.

04/24/2019

Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place in Waltham, MA.

Our accessibility and family-friendliness FAQ sheet is a PDF on our Sheepshearing page.

You'll also find a link to ticket sales, parking info, our map and schedule of events, and a list of participants.

Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place 32nd Annual Event SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2019 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. RAIN OR SHINE. See traditional shearing and more!

04/24/2019

Our tiny flock is behind-the-scenes getting ready for the 32nd Annual Sheepshearing Festival -- this Saturday!

These sheep in our gift shop are made by Nodrog Farms and Englishman Bay Trading Company who are both fiber vendors this year.

04/23/2019

It's this Saturday!!

Our Sheepshearing Festival is this Saturday 10-5. Rain or shine!
You can buy tickets online or at the gate.

Video description: 15 second video featuring a lamb, a Maypole dance, wood toys in the craft section, a child making a sheep mask, a child learning to weave on a loom, and a performance by Circus Smirkus. "A wooly great time" followed by our logo and the date of the event.

04/23/2019

We're on the radio this week! You can hear our Sheepshearing ad live on the radio at WBUR 90.9 FM or livestreaming at wbur.org at the following times:

Monday April 22 at 6:29 pm and 8:20 pm
Tuesday April 23 at 10:19 am, 11:06 am and 5:34 pm
Wednesday April 24 at 12:19 pm and 9:05 pm
Thursday April 25 at 11:19 am and 8:58 pm
Friday April 26 at 2:19 pm and 8:39 pm

04/22/2019

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the concert with Shirley Hunt has been cancelled.

04/22/2019

We are open for tours this week Monday-Friday. The property looks a little different from the fencing and tents going up for Sheepshearing, but everyone is still welcome to take a tour.

PLEASE NOTE: There are NO regular tours on Saturday.

04/19/2019

Living Salad Bowl Workshop - Gore Place

We still have spots for our Living Salad Bowl Workshop. Great early Mother's Day gift perhaps?

Rain or shine. At this workshop, noted gardener and floral designer, Scott Clarke, will teach you how to make a beautiful and edible arrangement. You will plant a living saladbowl with a wonderful variety of greens including red and green leaf lettuce, chard, and spicy micro greens, all cut-and-come...

04/19/2019

We are OPEN for tours tomorrow 12-3. Bring your out-of-town guests and see our 1806 mansion.

04/18/2019

Read our Spring 2019 newsletter available on our website: https://goreplace.org/about/news/

04/18/2019

Don't miss Shirley Hunt on Tuesday! She'll perform in the Carriage House at 7:30pm.

Details and tickets: https://goreplace.org/event/shirley-hunt/

04/18/2019

Evening tours of the beautiful 1806 mansion are offered on select Fridays throughout the year..

Have family in town for the holidays or the marathon? Why not take them on a Moonlight Tour of Gore Place tomorrow evening. Tour starts at 7:30pm.

Evening tours of the beautiful 1806 mansion are offered on select Fridays throughout the year at Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts.

04/17/2019

21st century tech meets 1806! Our friends from BPI visited to work on our accessibility initiative in the second floor of the Gore Mansion. Read more about it in our spring issue of The Agrarian on our website.

04/17/2019

It's a beautiful day to take a tour, see the sheep, or rent a Take-A-Walk backpack!

04/16/2019

Our Sheepshearing Festival is 11 days away!

We hope you join us on April 27 10-5 for our 32nd Annual Sheepshearing Festival!

Video description: This is a 15-second video of the Sheepshearing Festival at Gore Place. Festive music plays in the background. A lamb is heard in the background and images border collies herding sheep scroll. Next, text appears displaying “Sheep + Border Collies!!!” and “32nd Annual Sheepshearing Festival.” Finally, the Gore Place logo appears with the festival’s date of Saturday April 27 and our social media hashtag: #SheepFest32.