Art and architecture scholar Cristina Ashjian will give a talk on historic country estates at the Wilmot Town Hall on North Wilmot Road, on Wednesday, August 25, at 7 PM.

In the early 20th century, the New Hampshire Board of Agriculture launched a program to boost the rural economy and promote tourism through the sale of abandoned farms to summer residents. After introducing the country house movement, speaker Cristina Ashjian will focus attention on some of the great country estates featured in the New Hampshire program between 1902 and 1913.

Which private estates were recognized as exemplary, and who were their owners? Using historic images and texts, Ashjian will discuss well-known estates now open to the public such as The Fells on Lake Sunapee, The Rocks in Bethlehem, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish. She includes local examples when possible.

Ashjian, PhD in Modern Art and Architecture from Northwestern University, is presently the chair of the Moultonborough Heritage Commission. Her current research focuses on late 19th and early 20th century country estates.

This program is free and open to the public and co-sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities.

For more information, go to WilmotLibrary.org or contact Glynis Hart at 526-6804 or WilmotLibrary@nullcomcast.net.