About the Searles Estate:

Edward F. Searles was born on July 4, 1841. His father, an overseer in the Methuen Company Mills, earned a comfortable living and his family lived at “Appleside,” their homestead in Methuen. When Edward was three, his father, sister and younger brother died within one month’s time. At the age of twelve, Edward and his older brother quit school and went to work in the mills to help their mother support the family and homestead.

Searles first left Methuen in 1861 to teach music in Bath, Maine. Later, he moved to Boston and entered the employ of Paul & Co., interior decorators and connoisseurs in home furnishings. In 1875, he went to New York to work for Herter Bros. as an interior decorator. He was most successful with this firm and by 1881 he had amassed a considerable fortune.

In 1881, rheumatic fever caused Searles to move west for a more favorable climate. He was asked by Herter Bros. to report on the satisfaction of some of the homes they had outfitted for California millionaires. Among these was the “Nob Hill” San Francisco mansion of the widow of Mark Hopkins, one of the six men who built the Central Pacific Railroad.

Mrs. Hopkins was charmed by Mr. Searles and asked him to help her build a beautiful home on the site of her Great Barrington birthplace. The admiration became mutual and love followed its course. They were married on November 8, 1887. The bride was twenty-two years his senior and she died four years later in July of 1891. Her immense wealth was left to Mr. Searles without reservation while her adopted son, Timothy Nolan Hopkins, was disinherited.

Mr. Searles became the target of abuse and venomous comments from newspapers. Mrs. Searles’ will was upheld after a contentious, extended legal contest. Nolan’s counsel filed exceptions, but before they were heard, a cash settlement was made.

During the last twenty-years of his life, Searles retreated from the public eye and concentrated on his Methuen estate, Pine Lodge. He began enclosing his estate with tall medieval style stone walls and expanding Pine Lodge, bringing the best of his other homes to Methuen. Of special interest on the estate are:

• The large iron gate and sculpted eagle once owned by Napoleon


• A bell tower adorned by stone lions and the “Ascending Angel” sculpture by William Couper


• A gothic chapel, designed for Mr. Searles by renowned architect Henry Vaughn 

Mr. Searles died from heart failure on August 6, 1920 at the age of 70. His body is entombed in the crypt of his chapel located on the grounds of his Methuen estate.