Larz Anderson
Larz Anderson was a U.S. businessman and diplomat, serving as the Ambassador to Japan.
Larz Anderson came from a distinguished Cincinnati, Ohio family who traced their roots in America to before the Revolution. A wealthy young Harvard graduate, he was an eligible bachelor when serving at the United States Embassy in Rome, Italy Rome in 1896. It was there he met Isabel Weld Perkins, a young debutante on her world tour. Fifteen years earlier at the age of five, Isabel had inherited $17 million cash from her grandfather, William Fletcher Weld. He made a fortune through his Black Horse Flag fleet of clipper ships and a subsequent transportation empire.
Larz and Isabel were married in Boston in 1897 and embarked on a life of luxury combined with public service and adventure. Larz served as Ambassador to Japan in 1912, and Isabel received the Croix d Guerre in 1918 for her nursing service in the Great War. They traveled widely with four trips around the world and throughout Europe and the Far East. The Andersons built a mansion at DuPont Circle in Washington, D.C., today owned by the Society of the Cincinnati, and kept a house in New Hampshire. Summers and Christmas holidays, the Andersons spent at their twenty-five room mansion located at the crest of their estate in Brookline, which they named "Weld" in honor of Isabel’s grandfather.
Isabel and Larz completed extensive development of Weld. The sixty-four acre estate became the home of celebrated Italian, Chinese, Water, and Japanese Gardens. There were fountains, topiary, bonsai, rose gardens, sculpture, a polo field, and adjacent to the Water Garden, an outdoor theatre. The mansion, overlooking the Boston skyline, was enlarged and remodeled to resemble Lulworth Castle, an ancestral home.
Today, much of the estate’s landscape architecture has been lost. However, the Carriage House where the Museum is located and the exquisite Temple of Love on the shore of the Water Garden reflect the charm and magnificence of Weld when the Andersons were alive. A self-guided walking tour of the estate is available at the Museum. Larz Anderson Park remains a popular destination for its natural beauty and history.
Collecting Automobiles
Larz and Isabel Anderson began their love affair with the automobile before the turn of the century. In 1899, soon after they married, they purchased a Winton Runabout, a true horseless carriage. From 1899 to 1948 the Andersons purchased at least thirty-two new motorcars, in addition to numerous carriages, creating America’s oldest motorcar collection. Among those no longer with us; the 1905 Walter Tractor & Victoria Carriage, 1907 Walter Broughm, 1910 American Underslung (designed by Harry Stutz), 1913 Hudson 33, 1917 Ford Model T Estate Wagon, 1918 Dodge, 1920 Dodge Truck, 1920 Dodge Hackney, 1924 Dodge Sedan, 1928 Nash Advanced Six, 1930 Packard Limousine, 1931 REO Flying Cloud 6-21, 1936 Dodge Station Wagon, 1938 Dodge Express Truck, 1939 GMC Truck, 1940 Ford Deluxe Wagon, 1941 Packard Suburban, 1947 Pontiac Sedan and the 1948 Ford Super Deluxe Wagon.
As the cars became obsolete, they were retired to the Carriage House. By 1927, the Andersons had opened the Carriage House for tours of their "ancient" vehicles. When Isabel Anderson passed away in l948, she bequeathed her entire Brookline estate, including mansion, Carriage House, land, and automobiles, to the Town of Brookline. She stipulated in her will that the motorcar collection be known as the "Larz Anderson Collection." Fourteen of the original thirty-two vehicle remain in the Collection.
The Veteran Motor Car Club of America opened the Antique Auto Museum at Larz Anderson Park in October, 1949. Families proudly displayed their vintage motorcars, competed in lawn games, and enjoyed picnic lunches on the grassy slopes of the Polo Field. On display were fifteen Anderson automobiles, twenty-four carriages, and six sleighs. Since the grand opening over fifty years ago the Museum has grown into a major New England non-profit educational institution with community events, lectures, children’s programs, walking tours of the Anderson Park, and an ever-changing series of exhibits on the Andersons, the automobile, and their impact on society and culture.