At the end of an old New England road, surrounded by miles of beachfront and saltmarsh, lies Castle Hill, the early 20th century summer estate of plumbing magnate Richard T. Crane, Jr. and family. As designed between 1910-1928 by some of the most renowned architects, landscape architects and artists of the era, the Cranes transformed the property into one of America’s great Country Place Era estates. Today, after years of historic preservation and restoration to its outbuildings, gardens, and David Adler-designed mansion, The Trustees of Reservations has brought new life to Castle Hill, as it continues to steward this National Historic Landmark. Curator Susan Hill Dolan will present an illustrated talk about the history-detective work used to meticulously restore the Great House interiors, share collection highlights, and introduce you to the iconic landscape features that have inspired visitors for generations.

Susan Hill Dolan has worked for The Trustees of Reservations since 1996, serving as Senior Curator for their North Shore portfolio of six Massachusetts historic house museums and cultural landscapes, including Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, a National Historic Landmark. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and Christie’s Fine & Decorative Arts graduate program with the Royal Society of Art in London, she specialized in English and Continental decorative arts and won an award for her thesis on Bristol delftware. She has more than 30 years of collections and historic preservation experience, working for The Trustees, Historic New England, and Skinner, Inc. She belongs to the Ceramics Study Club of Boston and the American Ceramic Circle, and serves on the Architectural Preservation District Commission for Ipswich, Massachusetts. At Castle Hill, an early 20th century Country Place Era estate, her labor-of-love has been the extensive interior restoration of the Stuart-style Crane mansion designed by Chicago architect David Adler. Susan also oversees collections management and acquisitions, object conservation, historic preservation projects, temporary exhibitions, and collaborates on historic site interpretation. Susan lectures and has authored numerous essays on decorative arts, historic interiors, and architecture for magazines and books, including the accompanying catalog for the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition, David Adler, Architect: The Elements of Style. She was most recently featured in the documentary, “David Adler: Great House Architect.”