Swampscott estate owner aims to share property’s history with town

SWAMPSCOTT – Falling trees repeatedly take out power lines and invasive species of plants have escaped former gardens to sunbathe at the beach.But stand at the shore on the Blythswood property and you see open ocean in one direction and a gracious mansion in the other.”There are more than 50 species of trees and shrubs and more than 50 species of common birds,” said owner Charles Wilkinson.But also, “There are 60 rooms and spaces ? That’s why I stopped being a principal and came back here.”For a property like Blythswood, he said, “you need a person with a fair variety of trade skills.” The property is located on Little’s Point Road.Thanks to a conservation easement that keeps the 6.5-acre oceanfront property from further development and opens a new nature trail to the water, Swampscott residents will soon be able to benefit from Wilkinson’s skills.Blythswood was built by James L. Little in 1847, modeled after the houses of the English countryside as a bucolic, gracious summertime escape from the industrial city.But like similar properties, the house and its grounds reflect the changing fortunes of its inhabitants. Two wings have been added along with modern amenities such as indoor plumbing, electricity and appliances. But barns and stables have disintegrated, and lands and gardens – along with the “e” in the property name – have been lost.”The to-do list has a few thousand items,” Wilkinson said. “It’s about a 10-year plan, and we’re about three-and-a-half years in.”In a way, Wilkinson agreed that he was correcting the sins of his ancestors. The Wilkinson family made its fortune in the leather tanneries in Lynn and purchased the house and its original 13 acres in 1910.But while the legacy of the leather industrialists is often pollution, Wilkinson’s passion is the environment, particularly marine biology.Wilkinson hopes to restore Blythswood to reflect the property’s tradition of historical and environmental stewardship.The future nature path will roughly follow the property line between Blythswood and Marian Court College, and include placards to identify many of the specimen trees and shrubs. The path will end at the ocean, and Wilkinson said that he will install benches and steps so that people can enjoy the ocean.The property’s vegetable garden and orchard once supported a household of at least 20 to 25 people, which included three generations of the Wilkinsons and more than a dozen servants.Today, the garden produce is mostly pawned off to neighbors and the orchard is down to a single crab apple, Wilkinson said. But Wilkinson just finished redoing the kitchen so that the house can begin canning and preserving produce again, and he is planning to plant pear, peach, plum and other fruit trees.Wilkinson said he also hopes to restore some of the more unique architectural elements in the home, which his family will continue to use but will be open for periodic events.He cited high-quality paintings and intricate molding and plasterwork to more utilitarian objects such as the home’s bell system for servants. The laundry room is one of the most interesting rooms in the house, essentially a walk-in closet off the kitchen that rises three stories to a skylight. That’s how they had to vent steam, Wilkinson explained.Wilkinson said he hopes Swampscott residents will soon be able to visit the home and grounds and catch a glimpse of the property’s history as an American summer estate.”I’m happy we can keep a little bit of that flavor still going,” he said.