Museums & Collections | October 16, 2018

Stevens-Coolidge Place winter activities

Winterlights and scavenger hunts at the historic Stevens-Coolidge Place

by Nell Porter-Brown

From The November-December 2018 Issue

**Snowy grounds at sunset** | Photograph courtesy of the Trustees

The Stevens-Coolidge Place, an estate in North Andover, Massachusetts, is hosting Winterlights (November 29-December 31), and a New Year’s Resolution Scavenger Hunt (December 22-January 6). Visitors can stroll the artfully illuminated mansion and grounds while enjoying music, guided tours, and wintry activities organized by the property’s steward, the Trustees of Reservations. (Farther west, in Stockbridge, the Trustees are also running Winterlights events at Naumkeag.)This former summer home of Helen and John Gardner Coolidge, A.B. 1884 (a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, and nephew of art patron Isabella Stewart Gardner) sits amid bountiful gardens; the roses may be long gone, but there are choice evergreens, a serpentine wall, the skeletal beauty of an old orchard—and that scavenger hunt. Look inside the estate’s “Little Free Library” for a list of 15 resolutions prompting searches for natural objects and signs of wildlife. Fun for any age, or an intergenerational team, the hunt fosters external (and internal) exploration befitting a long New England winter.

Published in the November-December 2018 print issue under the headline “Winter’s Bright Spots,” in the Harvard Squared section.

You might also like

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.

A vase of yellow flowers on a table next to an orange and a glass.

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.

A photograph of the inside of the From Iran exhibit at the Harvard Peabody Museum

Tk tk Iran

Artist Azadeh Akhlaghi reconstructs moments of Iranian political upheaval in a series of meticulously staged images.

Most popular

White House and Harvard University buildings split diagonally with contrasting colors.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Two mounted pheasants displayed on a stand against a gray background.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

A woman with long hair stands confidently with crossed arms next to a pickup truck.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.

Explore More From Current Issue

A vibrant illustration of a red car parked, surrounded by cheerful people and historic buildings.

Harvard History

Derek Bok donated his car for a good cause.

A woman with curly blonde hair sits casually against a stone wall, wearing a black top and jeans.

Chloe Chapin trains her Broadway costume designer’s eye on the history of men’s fashion.

Museums & Collections

Harvard Art Museums restores a rare glimpse of an American master.