Gore Place Society

Museum operations - Gore Place Society preserves, restores and promotes the early 19th century estate of christopher and rebecca Gore as a unique community resource that tells the story of early 19th century america. Gore Place is a national historic landmark with particular significance for architecture and american labor history. The mansion houses the largest collection of early 19th century boston-made furniture in a historic house. Gore Place is accredited by the american alliance of museums. The Gore estate has 50 acres of lawns, gardens and farm fields with a 1793 carriage house, an 1806 mansion, an 1835 farm manager's cottage and a small farm of period breeds of sheep and poultry. A year-round calendar of programs includes day and evening tours, exhibits, lectures, dramas, concerts, classroom and family education programs both in the mansion and on the farm, publications, workshops, farm gatherings, farm stand, summer intern program and festivals. The largest event is the annual sheep shearing festival in april. An estimated 30,000 visitors use the estate annually for programs and recreation.

Preservation and restoration - the mansion was designed by rebecca Gore and french architect jacques-guillaume legrand after christopher Gore had completed diplomatic duty in england. The 50 room brick structure is the oldest surviving elected governor's mansion in Massachusetts and is an outstanding example of american neoclassical (federal) architecture. There are high ceilings, marble floors, oval rooms, curved doors and moldings, a full-spiral cantilevered staircase and large windows. Gore Place has a program of scholarly research to better understand and interpret how the gores lived on the estate and to guide interpretive planning and programs. A master landscape plan and a strategic plan for the Gore Place farm guide future preservation of the landscape. Year round education and interpretation programs at Gore Place attract more than 15,000 visitors each year. Tours in the mansion have multi-sensory touchable objects and guides who are trained in giving tours to visitors with a variety of abilities. There are also costumed guided evening tours. Other programs include seasonal exhibits and lectures, self-guided take-a-walk backpacks for outdoor nature exploration, an outdoor story trail with illustrated pages from a child's book that changes with the season, a book nook and benches to encourage reading, winter snowshoeing, preschool play times, an annual community book sale, outdoor scavenger hunts, dramas, workshops, concerts, and teas. Publications include a biography of the gores, the house servant's directory, by robert roberts, who was a butler to the gores, a dvd on the Gore story, a self-guided walking tour, and several smaller publications on the Gore story. The 50 acre Gore estate is maintained as an agrarian landscape as it would have been during the Gore occupancy. There are period varieties of sheep and poultry as well as organically grown raised bed. Eggs and meat are sold on site. Horticulture and agriculture workshops offer advice and instruction for local gardeners, while corn roasts, outdoor performances and wagon rides encourage visitors to enjoy the open space and animals. Community groups use the grounds for programs that require open land, such as cub scout rocket day, archery lessons, chamber of commerce annual barbeque, and the traveling vietnam veterans moving memorial wall. The Gore Place farm is a unique community resource serving more than 15,000 visitors each year.