KATE BEALL JEREMY FRECHETTE
OLIVIA DOUHAN
COURTESY OF ANTHONY MARTIN
JEREMY FRECHETTE
Clockwise from top left , The main house on the estate ; vintage Donald Duck found by the Baughmans ; the barn located on the south side of the property ; the first Aston Magna group photo in June 1973 ; miscellaneous photographs in the living room .
signs to the previous owner , wanting to distinguish themselves from the music festival named after Aston Magna . Jack suggested “ Chesterfield ,” which seemed quite fitting . It is the name of the town in England where Caroline was born , located next to the town of Sheffield , just as the Chesterfield estate is right down the road from Sheffield , Massachusetts .
The moniker may have come easy , but the Baughmans knew very well that the journey to complete this labor of love would stretch out for years . Caroline was ready for the challenge . Her sister , Lucy George , came upon what she considered a good omen : One day , she climbed the ladder to the barn ’ s hayloft and came faceto-face with a turkey vulture calmly staring her back .
Lee Elman left nearly everything in the home before it was sold . Caroline , Jack , and Lucy then took on the task of sorting through every piece of furniture , decoration , file , and photograph he left behind ,
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as well as anything that lingered from the earlier owners .
What they discovered were filing cabinets filled with real estate transaction documents that Elman had kept since the ’ 70s . They found copies of International Male Magazine and a TIME magazine about the Watergate scandal ; a hubcap from an Excalibur car ; and a program from the early days of the Aston Magna Music Festival . Chestnuts left by squirrels were scattered amongst photos of Elman with political dignitaries such as Presidents Jimmy Carter , George H . W . Bush , and Barack Obama . A set of mid-century modern dining chairs and more interesting finds were stored in the guest cottage — like two rolodexes ( one marked “ pleasure ”; the other , “ business ”) and vintage toys .
In the vault were some of Spalding ’ s musical compositions and Elman ’ s extensive guest books . They also discovered the original house operating manual from 1918 — complete with photos , measurements , and instructions on how to use “ modern ” electrical and heating systems . “ I almost cried when I found it ,” Caroline says . “ It was worth removing the dead mouse and sticking my hand into the back of a moldy closet to fish it out .”
Some items were donated or sold , but the majority of what was left behind — enough to fill nine dumpsters — was damaged by rats , mold , or water .
Through this laborious process , the house and what remained inside revealed not only the estate ’ s history , but also has guided the Baughmans and New York architect Michael Davis in the restoration and renovation of the home .
The Scullys ( prior to 1913 ) & Charles Lang Freer ( 1913-1919 )
Long before the Baughmans , before Elman , the Spaldings , and Freer , the land was owned by the Scullys . Originally from the Pittsburgh area , the Scully family had