Last summer brought the end of an era in Dublin with the passing of Augusta Henderson Petrone, the owner of the historic Knollwood estate on Windmill Hill Road (see “Augusta Petrone of Dublin remembered as a champion of art and politics” in the Aug. 12 edition of the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript).
At 14,000 square feet, Knollwood is one of the largest homes ever built in Dublin. The estate is now on the market for the first time since 1954. Only two families have owned Knollwood: the MacVeaghs, who built the house in 1900, and the Hendersons. Augusta Petrone’s father, Ernest Henderson, bought the house from the MacVeaghs in 1954.
The estate is located at the northern end of Windmill Hill Road, where it meets Upper Jaffrey Road.
Knollwood was built by Chicago banker Franklin MacVeagh, who was Secretary of the Treasury under President Taft and remembered, among many other accomplishments, as the creator of the Buffalo nickel. MacVeagh decided to build a summer home in Dublin after staying at the summer homes of several friends in town, and wanted a house grand enough to host and entertain dignitaries.
In 1899, MacVeagh commissioned Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, a Boston architecture firm, to build Knollwood, and the house was completed in 1900. Knollwood was the second house the firm built in Dublin, following the “Markham House” on Snow Hill Road.
According to “Monadnock Summer: The Architectural Legacy of Dublin, NH,” by William Morgan, the construction of Knollwood marked a sea change in the Dublin summer colony, opening an era of grander, more formal homes. Previously, most of the summer homes in Dublin were converted farmhouses or designed to be deliberately understated compared to more formal summer colonies of the era, such as Newport, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor, Maine, or Marblehead, Massachusetts, as summer visitors to Dublin were known for seeking the “rustic idyll.”
Knollwood is one of the best-preserved “cottages” of the Dublin summer colony, and one of the few that retains some original furnishings. The property, which includes formal gardens, expansive lawns, a pond, and an orchard, has always been meticulously maintained and has never been renovated or significantly updated. Visitors to Knollwood often say it is like walking straight back into the Gilded Era.
Knollwood is now on the market for $10 million. The house, originally designed for a family with live-in staff, has 13 bedrooms. 91/2 bathrooms, and a dining room which seats 26 people. The ballroom on the east end of the house looks much as it must have looked in 1900, and has a capacity of 120 people.
The house is considered to be “two and a half” stories, with dormered bedrooms, built originally for staff, on the third floor.
Augusta Petrone, who was beloved in Dublin for her generosity and lack of pretention, was known to host friends for tea in the narrow servants’ kitchen, behind the swinging door that would have separated the family’s area of the house from the staff quarters. The kitchen includes plenty of storage, including a butler’s pantry, and has never been updated.
The property includes 104 acres, with views of Monadnock and the Wapack Range to the south and east. The estate also has a heated three-car garage with an apartment and a three-stall horse barn.
Augusta Petrone’s husband, Ambassador Joseph Petrone, Jr., who died in 2016, was a decorated World War II veteran who served in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he became a White House aide to President Eisenhower, and later served as both Ambassador to Switzerland and to the United Nations. The Petrones retired to Dublin in 1986.
The Petrones lived all over the globe during the ambassador’s diplomatic career, but they always considered Knollwood, where Augusta grew up spending her summers, home. Petrone’s extended family gathered at the house every summer for a family reunion.
“It’s a happy house,” Petrone would say.
Petrone’s father, Ernest Henderson, who died in 1967, was one of the founders of the Dublin Lake Club in 1901. Henderson was also the founder, with Robert Moore, of the Sheraton hotel chain. Guests at Knollwood would often find themselves eating and drinking from glasses and plates with the Sheraton logo.
The Petrones hosted countless events and fundraisers for local organizations over the years, including the annual fundraising gala for Monadnock Music. Augusta Petrone was a generous supporter of the Park Theater, the Raylynmor Opera, and many other local organizations.
Petrone was also a member of the Garden Club of Dublin, and, for many years, hosted the annual meeting of the club in the Knollwood ballroom. According to members, Petrone enjoyed telling the story, which her father had heard from Franklin MacVeagh, of President Taft’s visit to Dublin in 1910, when he walked from Dublin village to Knollwood. From 1910 to 1913, Knollwood was dubbed the “Summer White House.” MacVeagh put in a larger elevator in the home to accommodate Taft, enabling him to reach the guest room on the second floor.
According to historic records, President Taft planted two maple trees near the house in 1912.
Another famous visitor was the writer Mark Twain, who stayed at Knollwood for six weeks in 1905 and is reported to have entertained guests by reading passages from “Huckleberry Finn.”
According to listing broker Sean Bakhtiari of Compass/Bakhtiari Group, Knollwood could be sold furnished if a buyer were interested.
For more information about Knollwood, go to knollwoodestatenh.com.
