Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Chestnut Farm
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Weston, MA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Estate
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Privately Owned
Chestnut Farm, the 472-acre estate of Robert Winsor, was once the second largest home in Weston. In 1883, Winsor purchased the land that would house his estate, and built a shingle style home on it. Between 1887 and 1890, Winsor acquired more property in the area.
Beginning in 1910, Winsor began thinking of the possibilities of building a subdivision on his property. That year, Winsor hired Olmsted Brothers to make a general plan for his property. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. took the lead at Chestnut Farm, stating that Winsor “wants to keep place quiet and natural; but wants to build some woods-roads and gradually improve the place with the idea in mind of subdividing it as time goes on…into smaller places of (say) ten acres and upwards”.
Winsor asked Olmsted to create a road system not only convenient for his personal use but would also be useful when the property was subdivided. Olmsted Brothers made sure to place those roadways based on topographical and geological features, taking advantage of the natural landscape.
Olmsted Brothers also designed a four-acre pond at Chestnut Farm, with seventy-five workers arriving to the swampy site, removing unneeded land to make the pond deep enough for swimming. To this day, the pond left by the Olmsted's is used for skating in the winter.
Source: "A Quiet and Natural Place," Wellesley Weston Magazine
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Beginning in 1910, Winsor began thinking of the possibilities of building a subdivision on his property. That year, Winsor hired Olmsted Brothers to make a general plan for his property. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. took the lead at Chestnut Farm, stating that Winsor “wants to keep place quiet and natural; but wants to build some woods-roads and gradually improve the place with the idea in mind of subdividing it as time goes on…into smaller places of (say) ten acres and upwards”.
Winsor asked Olmsted to create a road system not only convenient for his personal use but would also be useful when the property was subdivided. Olmsted Brothers made sure to place those roadways based on topographical and geological features, taking advantage of the natural landscape.
Olmsted Brothers also designed a four-acre pond at Chestnut Farm, with seventy-five workers arriving to the swampy site, removing unneeded land to make the pond deep enough for swimming. To this day, the pond left by the Olmsted's is used for skating in the winter.
Source: "A Quiet and Natural Place," Wellesley Weston Magazine
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr