Ames Mansion

The Ames Mansion is the three-story stone house at the center of Borderland State Park, built in 1910–1911 for Oakes and Blanche Ames and, in DCR's words, furnished exactly as when it was built. You can see inside only on a guided tour: DCR's tours are free, last about 30 minutes and cover the first floor, and the Friends of Borderland run $10 tours of all three floors on set Sundays. Either way, you pay the normal parking fee ($5 for Massachusetts plates, $20 for others) to get into the park.

DCR Mansion Tours (Free)

DCR's own tours are guided, free and about half an hour long, and they stay on the first floor, which includes the two-story library. DCR asks you to register in advance at tinyurl.com/BordTour, where the dates and times are listed; its October 2026 program sheet says walk-ins are welcome as space allows. Tours meet at the mansion. Children must come with an adult.

Each tour has a theme. DCR's tour sheet lists these: Building a Home (the furnished interior and the history of the family and house), the Kids Mansion Tour (what life was like for the four Ames children), Partners in Love and Work (how Oakes and Blanche worked together), Of Governors and Generals (the family's politicians and soldiers), and three that are offered some months but not others: Portrait of an Artist, The Ameses and Women's Rights, and Oakes and Orchids. Rain cancels most programs, so DCR suggests calling (508) 238-6566 if the weather looks doubtful.

Friends of Borderland Tours (All Three Floors)

The Friends of Borderland, the park's volunteer nonprofit, run the only tours that cover all three floors. Tickets are $10, sold at the door on the day only, and free for Friends members. Tours run every half hour from 12:00 to 2:30 pm. The Friends' 2026 schedule listed two Sundays a month from April 12 through September 20; check their site for the next season's dates before you plan around one.

What's Inside

DCR describes the mansion as furnished exactly as it was when it was built. The Friends say the Ames family donated the house's contents along with the land, so what you see is the family's own furniture, art and books rather than period pieces brought in later. The room most people remember is the library, which DCR's management plan notes is open to visitors during tours and has been used as a film set.

Blanche Ames designed the house herself. According to DCR's management plan, she chose a Gothic Revival style and faced the rooms northwest. The family picked stone and asbestos-reinforced plaster because they were afraid of a house fire. The outer walls are fieldstone cut locally, which ties the house to the stone walls and granite ridges in the woods around it.

The Ames Family

Oakes Ames was a Harvard botanist whom DCR still calls one of the foremost orchid experts; he also supervised the Arnold Arboretum from 1927 to 1935. Blanche Ames was an artist, botanical illustrator and suffragist whose political cartoons are part of DCR's women's rights tour. The family began buying farmland here in 1906, built the house in 1910–1911, and lived on the estate until the late 1960s. The full story, from the farms to the state purchase, is on the history page.

Restoration and Film Shoots

DCR carried out major interior and exterior renovations between 2009 and 2011, starting with the masonry and the roof. At the house's 100th anniversary celebration in September 2011, the Friends say DCR committed up to $500,000 to finish the work. Filming has helped too: DCR's plan records $10,000 paid by the producers of Ghostbusters for shooting in the library, and the Friends say the library also appears in Knives Out (filmed in 2019).

Outside the Mansion

You can walk the grounds without a tour. The rock garden, the old swimming pool, the tennis court and the lawns all date from the estate's first years, and five signs on the Ames Mansion Centennial Path tell the house's story. The picnic tables south of the visitor center look straight across at the mansion. The mansion is also the start or end of DCR's Pond Walk, which loops about 3 miles around Lower Leach Pond.

Inside the visitor center, DCR keeps a self-guided Ames family photo exhibit and free brochures on the architecture of the house and grounds, good to read before or after a tour.

Weddings and Private Events

The mansion's interior is not available for weddings, according to the Friends. Ceremonies happen outside on the grounds with a DCR special use permit; see weddings at Borderland.

Good For / Maybe Skip If

• Good for history and architecture fans: the house is original, furnished, and on the National Register as part of the Borderland Historic District.
• Good for families: DCR's Kids Mansion Tour is pitched at younger children.
• Good for a rainy-ish day, since the tour is indoors, though rain can cancel it, so call first.
• Maybe skip the DCR tour if you want the upstairs rooms: book a Friends of Borderland Sunday instead.
• Maybe skip on a peak summer weekend afternoon if you're driving in for the tour alone; the lots often fill by late morning. See parking.