The Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens in North Andover, MA is situated on a former farm that became a summer country estate in 1914 to one of Isabella Stewart Gardner‘s nephews, John Gardiner Coolidge, and his wife Helen Stevens-Coolidge. They vacationed and entertained at the estate until Helen’s death in 1962, when she bequeathed the house and the land to the Trustees, a non-profit that has been working for over 125 years to act as “a steward of distinctive and dynamic places of both historic and cultural value” across Massachusetts. Spring BloomFest is an annual celebration of the flowering of 165,000 tulips and various bulbs, ornamental trees, and other plants that come alive in April and May. Due to the pandemic, they had limited availability and were only allowing guests in who had purchased timed entries. I reserved our spots for today about a month ago in a member pre-sale. They are completely sold out (22 days, with 18-20 slots per day). At this early stage, the Hyacinths and Daffodils are blooming. We are told that the Tulips begin to open next weekend, so make your choice on what you want to see when making your reservation for next year. I hope you enjoy these photos:
On the way home, we also stopped into the Charles W. Ward Reservation, another Trustees property just a few miles south in Andover. We took the shortest trail that wound up the hill through some gorgeous old-growth forest to a grassy green opening (420 foot elevation) where you can see the Boston skyline 30 miles to the south. Having visited Stonehenge, the former owner of the land decided she needed her own stone compass to mark the sunrise and sunsets on the Summer and Winter Solstices as well as the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes. She also added Zodiac stones around the edge, many of them with ties to the local history. One of the stones is from the doorstep of a historic pub, there are two fossilized/petrified tree stumps, and several of them are local puddingstone. The center of the “compass” is an old granary grinding stone, whose etched curves mimic the sun.
South by South East 
The “Solstice Stones” from the West 
True North 
Boston in the distance, 30 miles away to the South
“Ask Me – I’m a Local”
It was pouring rain, cold, and windy. Because of the weather, most of the street vendors had cancelled, so I didn’t have to stand in the cold rain at 7:15am, but I did keep my shift at the booth. I struggled to find an outfit that was fun, but also weatherproof. I settled on a polyester “Beetlejuice” suit I had in the closet from a 
While it was technically past Halloween, the crowds still came on Saturday, perhaps because of the weather that week. It was clear, but chilly. I wore the Ambassador Witch hat and socks, but with long johns and a thick wool pea coat.
Small Stuff 