Wisteriahurst - Holyoke, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 12.314 W 072° 37.029
18T E 696712 N 4675312
After the flood resulting from the Mill River Dam Disaster of May 16, 1874, destroyed his mill, William Skinner moved his home from Williamsburg, MA to Holyoke, MA. Today this home is the Wisteriahurst Museum at 238 Cabot Street, Holyoke, MA.
Waymark Code: WM10WA8
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 07/01/2019
Views: 2
Wistariahurst is the former home of William Skinner, a 19th century industrialist and manufacturer of silk. The first building on the site was built about 1848 and moved from the Skinnerville Village of Williamsburg, MA to its present location in 1874 when Skinner relocated to Holyoke.
According to the website Digital Commomwealth: (
visit link)
"Not just the mill but the whole village was utterly destroyed. Skinner couldn't afford to rebuild here afterward without the reservoir to provide sufficient water power during dry seasons, so he moved his business to Holyoke, where in the years that followed William Skinner & Sons became the world's leading silk manufacturer, and where the mansion he took apart in Skinnerville, relocated and reoccupied with his family in 1874-5 is today the Wistariahurst Museum."
The mansion has three sections: the three-story original section, a two-story hall attached on the west side, and a wing housing a conservatory and music room. Skinner expanded the building into its present Second Empire style structure starting in 1874. The conservatory and music hall, designed by Clarence E. Luce of Philadelphia, were added in 1913. The present complete structure was designed by the firm of Wilson, Eyre and McIllvaine in 1927. William Skinner's wife Sarah created the gardens at Wisteriahurst. The grounds are planted with a variety of trees, and the wisteria vine along the house that gave the estate its name. The mansion, lawns, and gardens occupy three acres, an entire city block.
The family owned the estate until 1959. The youngest child of William and Sarah Skinner, Katharine Skinner Kilborne, gave Wistariahurst to the City of Holyoke for cultural and educational purposes.
Admission to the house is by guided tour only. General admission is $7 adults. Tour times are: 12:15 pm, 1:15 pm, 2:15 pm, and 3:15 pm. Wistariahurst grounds and gardens are free and open daily from dawn until dusk.