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.

Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest: Saturday only

Everybody loves summer and our summer won't be complete without our first annual Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest. So it's time to pucker up and spit, and see who can launch their seed the farthest. One can imagine this is right out of the Saturday Evening Post or Life Magazine...

Rules and Limitations:

1) You should be 18 or older to participate.

2) Please note: Participation may be limited due to the number of seeded watermelons we are able to obtain and if we can even find them.

3) Each entrant gets two chances to spit their way into Lawn Party immortality.

Pie Eating Contest (for children 7 to 13): Sunday only

Our first activity for all the children in attendance. Must be at least 7 to attempt to eat a small pie. Contestants will be limited to 10, must sign up in advance at our information table on the day of the event and be no older than 13. Contestants will have their hands behind their backs and will be awarded style, neatness and completeness points. The contestant who can down the most pie first without getting it all over the place, wins! If you sign up and miss the start time, your spot will be given to someone else on the waiting list. Must be accompanied by a parent.

Picnic Spread Contest - both days

In the past, we've had a super secret contest for the best picnic spreads. Our judges wandered the Lawn and awarded the best picnic spreads with a blue ribbon. This year, we're telling everyone in advance! So, start your planning now! If you have a great spread, let us know at the information booth, we’ll come take a look!

Afternoon Tea in the Italian Garden (additional ticket required, click here)

Relax and enjoy one of the most beautiful parts of the Crane Estate while you enjoy English tea sandwiches, baked goods, and exotic teas provided by the amazing Teafarers (formerly : Dobra Teas of Portland). Afternoon Tea is catered by Ferreira Foods. We will also have some special performances for you. Please note: this is sold out for 2023. It’s already sold out for Saturday for 2024. Get tickets for Sunday’s Afternoon Tea.

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.

The Poetry Brothel (Additional Fee)

Experience a one-on-one private poetry reading at the Casino Complex. Based on the historical turn-of-the-century brothels, hotbeds of experimental art, The Poetry Brothel is Boston's premiere immersive literary event. Fusing poetry, activism, live music, vaudeville, magic, mysticism, and more, they create a space for uninhibited creative expression in which artists and audience members can communicate authentically. The flexible cabaret format thrives on large stages and in unique, intimate settings. Audience members come closer to poetry in one-on-one private readings, which foster curiosity and conversation. Performers come from all backgrounds and our space welcomes all. Learn more about this event series and about their parent non-profit, The Poetry Society of New York, here.

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.