James Brown Case (1826-1907) was one of the first Boston businessmen to summer in Weston, beginning in 1863. Case was a dry goods merchant and later a banker. His wife, Laura Williams, was from a wealthy and prominent Boston family. They had four daughters: Caroline, Mabel, Louisa, and Marian. In 1889, the family built the Shingle-style mansion called “Rocklawn,” now known as Case House and currently occupied by the Weston school administration offices.
Marian Roby Case (1864-1944) purchased land adjacent to the family summer estate and established Hillcrest Farm (later renamed Hillcrest Gardens), which she operated from 1909 to 1942.
Louisa Case (1862-1946) inherited the mansion and much of the original James Case land. It was Louisa who gave the first gift of land to Harvard University for the use of the Arboretum. In total, the two sisters gave 202 acres and large cash bequests to the Arboretum.
The Case mansion and much of the original James Case land was eventually acquired by the town of Weston and includes the sites of Country, Woodland, and Field Schools, the town pool, the Weston Public Library, and the Scout House, as well as the 35-acre field now leased to Land’s Sake Farm.
After her father’s death in 1907, Marian Roby Case embarked on a career combining farming and education. She was 45 years old, unmarried, and unconventional. Like other “gentleman farmers” of her time, she was concerned about the decline of New England agriculture. She had money, strong ideals, and a deep affection for the disappearing farm landscape. When the land next to the family’s summer estate came on the market, she took the first step in establishing the unique institution initially known as Hillcrest Farm.
The “Hillcrest Boys” ranged in age from about 12 to 18 years old. In their first two years of training, they worked from 8 to 12 o’clock every morning and earned a dollar a week -- a low wage even for the time. But being a Hillcrest Boy was more than just a job. As one boy was to write, “. . .she wants us to make something of ourselves and to benefit us,” adding, “We learn to work at Hillcrest. You may say that is easy enough, but at Hillcrest we learn to work scientifically.”
At the daily study hour, the boys were required to keep a journal of their activities and nature observations. To keep in touch with the latest in agriculture and interest the boys in nature, Miss Case planned summer lectures by specialists. And, because “boys need amusement as well as work,” she organized regular outings to places like Nantasket Beach and Benson’s Wild Animal Farm.
On Labor Day, the season ended with a picnic and award ceremony where each boy was required to present a report on a topic related to horticulture or the farm. Many of these were published in a series of annual “Green Books” richly documenting the work at Hillcrest. A collection of Green Books can be found in the history room of the Weston Library or at the Weston Historical Society.
The Hillcrest uniform and pin were among many similarities between Miss Case’s program and the Boy Scout movement, both of which sought to build character, encourage self-improvement, and foster civic pride. The Hillcrest theme song, sung to the tune of “Marching to Georgia,” reinforced the values of public service and citizenship:
Only Hillcrest farm boys, we’ll soon be Hillcrest men,
True and trusted citizens, we’ll work for Weston then.
Bound to make her greater far than she has ever been.
We are the farm boys of Weston.
By 1917, the farm was selling 50 types of vegetables as well as cherries, pears, apples, peaches, grapes, and ten varieties of berries. Over the years, produce was delivered to local homes, trucked to market, or sold at a teahouse and produce stand in Weston Center. By 1930, 40 acres were under cultivation. Hillcrest received many prizes for the quality of its produce.
A shift of emphasis from farming to horticulture is reflected in the 1920 name change from Hillcrest Farm to Hillcrest Gardens. Marian Case was a prominent member of local and international horticultural societies. Noted specialists including Charles Sargent, John Jack and E.H. Wilson lectured at Hillcrest and provided her with new and unusual seeds and plants for horticultural displays. Miss Case also traveled widely and received seeds and plants from all over the world.
Marian Roby Case lived at 102 Wellesley Street, which she called Appletree Cottage. Three former farmhouses at 101, 131, and 137 Wellesley Street were used by her staff and, in later years, by Hillcrest Boys who boarded for the summer. The clubhouse, now the red schoolhouse, was used for lectures and study hour. In 1927, Marian Case built the yellow brick barn at 135 Wellesley Street, complete with the latest facilities.
Miss Case used stones cleared from the fields to build stone walls, including two unusual examples. The “hen’s tooth” or “balancing wall” along Wellesley Street was built from large boulders set on end. “Louisa’s Wall,” a landmark since 1911, is thought to be the largest free-standing dry wall of native stones in New England. It stands ten feet high, six feet thick and 200 feet long.
Hillcrest flourished in the 1930s, until the disastrous hurricane of 1938. Fine specimen trees were damaged and over 3,000 woodland trees were lost. The following year, Miss Case’s ill health forced her to look for an organization to carry on her work. Upon her death in 1944, the property was willed to Harvard University for the use of the Arnold Arboretum.
The Arnold Arboretum continued the Hillcrest tradition at the renamed Case Estates. The property was used as an educational resource with specialized collections, experimental and display plantings, and nurseries. The Arboretum established a formal perennial/teaching garden, developed a suburban-urban tree collection, and maintained a ground-cover display with nearly 120 beds of mature plants. Nursery plants were evaluated and tested for hardiness, since Weston winters averaged 13 degrees colder than the Arboretum’s location in Jamaica Plain. Specialty gardens of rhododendrons, hostas, and herbs were established in conjunction with other horticultural organizations. Three Arboretum staff lived on the property in the historic houses.
In the mid-1980s, the Arboretum determined that the Case Estates was no longer central to its mission. In 1985 the town bought the "40 acre field" (35.65 acres) as municipal purpose land. A discounted price was negotiated with members of the Board of Selectmen. In the 1990s, five of the houses on Case property were sold to private homewoners to insure their upkeep. Funds from these sales provided support for the Arboretum's mission in Jamaica Plain.
To learn more about the Case Family or the Case Estates, explore these resources:
