On the Market: A Horticulturist’s Humongous Estate

Photo courtesy of Estately

George Hill & Hilltop Roads, Lancaster
Price: $9,900,000
Size: 22,000 square feet
Bedrooms: 20
Baths: 22.5

Finally, a home for sale that allows you to entertain 19 of your closest friends. The 20-bedroom manor at the Bayard Thayer estate in Lancaster is astonishingly humongous—it also has 23 bathrooms and a surrounding 217 acres of land. The estate was designed by Guy Lowell, the architect behind Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. It was built for famed horticulturalist Bayard Thayer in 1903 as a lavish summer estate. In the mid-1900s, the manor became a Catholic retreat house, and in 1986, Dr. Deepak Chopra turned it into a holistic medicine destination known as the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center. The center, rumored to have been visited by Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor, closed in 2012.

The 22,000-square-foot brick mansion has a grand, curving staircase, an oak-paneled dining room, a walnut-paneled library, 13 fireplaces, and a professional-grade kitchen. The property also includes an Arts and Crafts-style carriage house, most recently used as staff quarters, plus a pond, a secret garden, and sweeping landscapes filled with rare perennials and shrubbery.

For information, Nancy Hazel, TP Hazel Sotheby’s International Realty, tphazel.com.

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

Photo courtesy of Estately

The Boston Home team has curated a list of the best home design and home remodeling professionals in Boston, including architects, builders, kitchen and bath experts, lighting designers, and more. Get the help you need with FindIt/Boston's guide to home renovation pros.