Stone's throw from Boston

Magnet #914 - Maymont

Yep, my second Maymont magnet. I've magnetblogged about that house before, so I'm using this one for today's visit to yet another obscure historical house.

This time it was Robert Treat Paine's Stonehurst, in Waltham, Massachusetts, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, with a little landscaping help from his friend, Frederick Law Olmstead.

Some consider Richardson to be one of the greatest American architects - born in Louisiana, most of his work is scattered in New England, and the Midwest, from Trinity Church in Boston to the original Marshall Field store in Chicago, to having a hand in the NY State Capitol. And of course, everyone knows Olmstead for his work in Central Park and Chapel Hill and myriad other places.

Stonehurst was pretty bare, but man, was it gorgeous! Wood paneling, stone facade, giant hall, several parlors, fantastic. And of course, we were the only ones inside, and while we only did the self-guided tour, we ended up bombarding the poor lady with question after question after question.

Eh. It's what we do. It's who we are.

Oh. And we knocked on some wood, too.