Tours

Digging Out of the Wreckage On August 10, 2020, a straight-line windstorm known as a derecho tore through the Midwest, leaving wide-scale devastation in its wake. It caused $11 billion…

The Country Estate At the turn of the 20th century, people looked to escape the overcrowding and pollution of industrialized cities. Wealthy Americans began looking to Europe in developing “country…

The Design O.C. Simonds designed the formal garden in 1910. The garden includes outdoor “rooms” defined with a hedge border surrounded by plants placed in natural clusters. The garden’s design…

Outdoor Recreation & Leisure Outdoor recreation was a big part of life on country estates, and all three of Brucemore’s families enjoyed taking leisurely strolls along the property. One of…

The Hall family added the pet cemetery near the formal garden as the final resting place for not only their own pets, but those of close friends, family, and staff.…

The Design Brucemore was originally built with a conservatory (glasshouse) attached to the south façade of the mansion. When the Douglas family purchased the estate and expanded the property from…

Brucemore was built before the arrival of cars. Horses provided the main form of transportation for Caroline Sinclair, who was chauffeured in a horse-drawn carriage. By the time the Douglases…

Small Scale Farming Sustainability and self-sufficiency were woven into everyday life on a country estate. Starting in 1906, Brucemore steadily expanded, creating a small-scale farming operation that eventually included a…

Blending Two Styles Brucemore’s landscape reflects a blend of two popular approaches to landscape design prevalent in the early 20th century: the Beautiful Approach and the Prairie Style. The Beautiful…