Activities on the Estate

Explore the Crane Estate and participate in some of our activities while you're at it.

House Tours

It’s 1929 and you are a guest of the Crane family! Let a footman or maid show you around the Crane’s Great House during a 30-minute first-person tour. Tours are scheduled on the half-hour from 2 pm – 7 pm. Note: you will need to purchase a house tour ticket, as an add on to your Lawn Party ticket, get one in advance HERE.

castle Hill I Spy

Can you spot the architectural and landscape details highlighted in 15 photos? Search in the Italian Garden, at the Casino. and around the outside of the Great House. If you succeed, stop by our Information Tent for a small prize! Recommended for ages 7 and up.

”REIMAGINE THE JAZZ AGE” DISCUSSION

This discussion will cover race, social justice, inclusivity, and vintage culture, with a group of panelists sharing their perspectives and talking with you in a discussion on how we can reimagine a better, more inclusive 2020s.

For more information, click on our REIMAGINE THE JAZZ AGE page.

DANCE LESSONS

Learn some basic partnered swing dancing or solo 1920s Charleston from our experienced local teachers! See schedule for time and location.

More info on our DANCING page.

CASTLE HILL CHARLESTON CHALLENGE

This is a Charleston dance contest. Show up and strut your stuff! Any experience level welcome. See the schedule the time and location.

**Pie Eating Contest (18+)**

Saturday Jazz Age Showcase Only. We only have 10 pies and 10 chairs, so the lucky ten contenders need to scramble over to the Casino —first come, first served. So hot-foot down there and cram your pie hole full of pie!
All contestants gotta keep their mitts tucked behind their backs, and the first mug to polish off their pie takes the prize! It might get messy, don’t worry, we have some rain panchos to keep those glad rags spiffy.

Junior Pie Eating Contest (10 and under, Sunday Funday SociaL)

Same rules as the grown-ups’ pie-eatin’ humdinger on Saturday (see above) — only this one’s for the young’uns. Fair warning: each kid gets just half a pie, as we don’t want to spoil anyone’s supper or leave any little tummies in a twist.

**Picnic Spread Contest - both days**

In year’s past, we kept this contest for the best picnic spreads a clandestine affair with our judges sneaking through the crowd like thieves in the night. but y’all wanted to know the deal, so we’ve decided to have our judges do a more formal walkthrough and this year, they’ll award a single Grand Prize to the spread that impresses them in the most copacetic way! (see the schedule for the walk-through time).

**Florence's Glad Rags Strut & Stroll**

Florence was the lady of Castle Hill. Come and join her and strut your glad rags or just stroll with your hand bag. We're going to have a little parade for all you dandy dappers and dolled-up flappers! Complete with our own marching band!!!

LAWN GAMES

Grab some friends and enjoy a game of croquet, badminton, or giant chess!

VINTAGe girl studios (Additional fee)

Krzystyna Caldarone is a professional photographer. She began working in film at age fifteen and learned her craft at the iconic film-processing lab, Ferranti- Dege, located in Harvard Square, Boston.

Krzystyna has owned and managed Kryzstyna Harber Photography (www.kharberphoto.com), for eighteen years, where she transitioned to digital photography and honed her post-production editing skills through her work in wedding photography, rock and roll photojournalism and studio portraiture. In the spring of 2010, Krzystyna left the traditional world of professional photography in her quest for artistic satisfaction and photographic adventure to found Vintage Girl Studios.

Vintage Girl Studios offers studio sessions that transform women into classic visions of themselves from past eras. Vintage clothing, set design and professional hair and make-up stylists help perform this transformation to create a truly unique experience.

Krzystyna‘s Vintage Vintage/ Pin–up style photography has been featured in a variety of publications, including Chronicle, The Providence Journal, Motif Magazine, The Rhode Show and many national sub-culture magazines and websites.

In 2017, Krzystyna started to rekindle her love of instant photography after watching “Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid Film.” She realized instant film creates a social interaction through photography that we are losing in this digital age. Instant photography is a unique experience that can be shared between the subject and photographer. It is very special to show subjects their natural beauty through photography without applying any digital retouching filters.

Vintage Girl Studios will be bringing her Paper Moon and Vintage instant cameras to The Roaring Twenties Lawn Party on Castle Hill August 7th and 8th.

Massachusetts Women’s History Center

Stop by the Massachusetts Women’s History Center table to learn about the historic suffrage movement and current endeavors to increase women’s involvement in voting and politics. Join the Lawn Party suffrage movement by participating in Florence’s Glad Rags Strut and Stroll with one of our suffrage signs.

Massachusetts Women’s History Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, dedicated to commemorating the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which prohibits the federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex. It took a 72-year struggle, by thousands of suffragists, to achieve adoption of the 19th Amendment in August of 1920. We Invite You to Celebrate With Us - (https://www.mawomenshistory.org)

Crane VIP Experience

Treat yourself and your friends to a spectacular day to remember. This premium package offers luxurious treatment like the Crane family offered family and friends at their summer manor. The Crane VIP Experience includes Lawn Party admission for up to 12 people, exclusive use of a private tent for the afternoon, picnic suppers, drink service, use of the mansion bathrooms, and a private tour of the mansion all the way up to the roof. Only 2 Crane VIP Experience packages are available each day. Cost is $3,960. Call 978.870.1277 to book or make an inquiry.