The Crawford Estate : Facilities

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The Crawford Estate originally known as Evergreen. Photo take in 2004.

Related Files

» Crawford Estate Use Agreement
(pdf format)

» Crawford Estate Alarm Procedures
(pdf format)

The land where the mansion known as Evergreen now stands was previously owned by Samuel Dottridge, who, in the 1840s, operated saltworks on the property. The land remained wooded until Dottridge sold it in 1923 to Robert Marshall Roloson, a commercial paper broker in Chicago. Roloson built the colonial revival style mansion in 1924 as a summer home. He named it Evergreen for the many varieties of trees he planted on the grounds. It is unclear when Mr. Roloson died, but the mansion remained in the Roloson family until bad luck struck in 1939 when a fire in the family’s Winnetka, Illinois, home claimed the life of Robert Jr. Three other children survived the fire.

Mrs. Roloson was plagued with bad luck. She lost two children from a previous marriage, one in an auto accident in Cotuit and one in a private plane crash. When her first husband died circa 1922, she married his Harvard roommate, Robert Roloson. Bad luck continued when the Roloson’s pet bear bit their caretaker.

In 1940, Adele Roloson sold Evergreen to John D. Wright of Cleveland. He, in turn, sold it to Nita Crawford who used the mansion as a dormitory for special guests of her Pines Hotel, also located on the property. When The Pines was torn down in 1959, Evergreen and the property was sold to Nita Crawford’s brother-in-law, Fred Crawford. Mr. Crawford was best known for diversifying TRW, a manufacturer of aerospace, defense, and automotive products. He was also an Honorary Member of the Corporation of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Mr. Crawford and his wife, Kay, lived in the house until his death at age 103 in 1994. Kay Crawford still summers in a house located on the property in Cotuit and is deeply involved in the Oceanographic as an Honorary Trustee and Honorary Member of the Corporation. Mrs. Crawford donated the house and six acres adjoining to the Institution in 1996 to use for small meetings and retreats.

Crawford Estate Floor Plans

Crawford First Floor
(pdf format)

Crawford First Floor
(autoCAD drawing)

Crawford Second Floor
(pdf format)

Crawford Second Floor
(autoCAD drawing)

Crawford Third Floor
(pdf format)

Crawford Third Floor
(autoCAD drawing)

Last updated: March 19, 2009

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