About the Estate

A unique private estate, rich in history and natural beauty…

The estate has been in our family since the time of Benjamin F. Butler, the colorful Civil War general and Massachusetts governor, and is dotted with historic mansions and other houses (24 in total), all still belonging to his descendants. It comprises fifty-five rolling acres of meadows, forest, marshgrass and rocky granite shoreline, with a white-sand crescent beach, a flat mica beach, a granite swimming pier, a lily pond, and a wild peninsula where you can fish for striped bass or just contemplate the waves. It's excellent for kayaking, and also has two tennis courts—freshly rebuilt in 2022—and a playground, all overlooking the sea.

The estate is a paradise for birders. Over 120 species have been identified here, including snowy egrets, green herons, red-breasted mergansers, loons, sanderlings, razorbills, ospreys, Bonaparte's gulls, belted kingfishers, and bald eagles.

One hour north of Boston, Gloucester is one of the country's oldest and most storied fishing ports. If you can tear yourself away from the estate, the Fisherman's Memorial, Hammond Castle, the Cape Ann Museum, the Rocky Neck artists' colony, Halibut Point, the Shalin Liu Performance Center, and many other destinations are a short drive away.

A view from the Studio at medium tide

A view from Driftwood

The white sand beach, at left

A twilight scene after the tide has gone out.

The swimming pier at low tide

The mica sand beach, approaching low tide

People enjoying the mica sand beach at low tide

A close-up of the silvery sand with its tiny flecks of mica

The mica sand beach at high tide, seen from the road that leads to the Studio

The freshwater pond is a habitat for turtles, frogs, dragonflies, red-winged blackbirds, and herons.

Lilypads cover much of the pond surface

A blossoming waterlily

The tennis courts

A ship sails past the outer peninsula of the estate

An evening in October at low tide

Throughout the estate, winding roads present new scenery at every turn.

Roses in the beachgrass

Avian visitors to the estate include snowy egrets, belted kingfishers, and bald eagles

Whale sightings are rare but thrilling. (Video from Driftwood deck in May 2022; whale @ second 10.)

Stone causeway to the uninhabited outer peninsula. A path leads through the center of the “island” to the estate’s outermost point, a windswept granite outcropping.

An evening view through locust-tree branches

Twilight from the inner peninsula, near the Studio

Another twilight near the Studio