Description

Description: This late 19th century boudoir cabinet photograph shows a group of adults and children standing on the front lawn of an inn in Gloucester, Massachusetts. A sign on the porch roof identifies the charming mansard-roofed, three-story structure as “Oak Grove House” and there are two other buildings next to the property. A couple of the girls on the lawn are holding what could be long croquet mallets and there is a net stretching across the grass to the right of the image, perhaps for badminton.

An excerpt from an 1881 travel guide, The North Shore of Massachusetts Bay, reads: “Some two hundred feet back from the old Magnolia point road stands the Oak Grove House, a most delightfully situated hotel. A very handsome grove of oaks in the rear is much admired by all guests ; and not less the pretty lawn in front,” (pp. 54-55). The building still stands today though it appears to have been converted to an apartment building.

Image measures 4 1/2″ x 7 3/4″ on a 5 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ gilt-edged mount. An ink stamp on the verso reads: “J. S. LeFavour, Photo. Artist, Salem, Mass.” A pencil notation on the verso reads: “Magnolia”. Item #P00308

Condition: Light soil, mount’s corners are bumped. Generally very good condition with excellent resolution and contrast.