Visiting historic homes is one of my hobbies, so when I saw reduced tickets for a Moonlight Tour of Gore Place, I bought some for me and the boyfriend. I had heard of its annual sheepshearing festival but have sadly always missed it.
The Gores were a wealthy New England couple who built the “country house” in 1806. Christopher would become governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. Senator, and Rebecca worked with an architect to design the house. They had no children, so the property passed through private hands for years after they died. Thankfully the house was saved from the wrecking ball in 1935 by a group of preservationists who created the nonprofit Gore Place Society.
The tour started in the carriage house. The tour guides, holding lanterns, led us to the front door of the house and split the group into two. We saw multiple rooms of the house, which were all lowly lit, it being a moonlight tour and all.
Much of the furnishings were owned by the Gores. For me, a highlight of every historic home is the library, and they had a lovely library. We went on the tour during the holiday season, so I also enjoyed seeing a grand Christmas tree, which, to my pleasant surprise, was decorated with teacups.
It was an enjoyable tour, and I’d like to go back in the daytime in order to walk around the grounds. Maybe I’ll make it to the sheepshearing festival this year.
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