The Stevens-Coolidge Place is a wonderful example of the country place, when rural retreats were designed as places that integrated indoor and outdoor spaces, and that were meant to be lived in as well as admired. Formerly known as Ashdale Farm, it served as the summer home of John Gardner Coolidge, a diplomat who was descended from Thomas Jefferson and was nephew to Isabella Stewart Gardner, and Helen Stevens Coolidge from 1914 to 1962.