Friendsgiving
Not everyone can get home for Thanksgiving. Nurses and doctors work the holiday, so do firefighters and police, and people in the service are often posted a long way from family. Friendsgiving is a dinner for them, and for the friends of the house who would rather spend the evening together.
It is a dinner in the Thanksgiving season for friends of the house. Dates are announced to invited guests.
The spirit of it
Friendsgiving is a family meal for a chosen family, kept small so that the guests come to know one another. If you are new to Lowell or new to the house, this is a good evening to be introduced.
How to be invited
Friendsgiving and the other gatherings at the house are by invitation. They are small, and the guests are friends of the house and people they introduce. There are no tickets, no sign-up page and no public dates: dates are announced to invited guests.
If you would like to be considered, write to us: tell us who you are, who introduced you or how you know the house, and which gatherings interest you. We keep a short list and send invitations as there is room at the table. We cannot answer every note, and an invitation to one evening is not a standing one.
House standards
- This is a private home, not a venue. Guests come as friends, by invitation, and the invitation names who is coming.
- Nothing is sold. No tickets, no cover charge, no meals or drinks for sale, and no donation asked as the price of a seat.
- Food is home cooking shared among friends. If you would like to bring something, bring a dish or a drink to share, homemade or bought; never something to sell.
- The household’s private rooms are off limits, and the people who live here are not photographed or posted without their say-so.
- Be gentle with the house and its furnishings; many of them are antiques and cannot be replaced.
- Arrive and leave at the times on the invitation, park on the street without blocking a neighbor’s driveway, and keep voices down outside after dark.
- If you drink, do not drive.
- Please tell us about allergies and diets when you accept.
More at the house
Halloween
The one night a year the castle is open to everyone: free, no tickets.
Winter Holidays
The house dressed for the season, and the holidays marked with friends.
Game Nights
Small tables drawn from a library of more than two hundred board games. Newcomers are taught.
Dinner Parties
Dinners in the dining room for the household and its friends, cooked at home and shared.
Film & Photo Shoots
Short films and fashion shoots have been made here. Requests are considered case by case, through a request form.
Garden Photos
Special-occasion photos in front of the spring flowers: free by request, with a suggested contribution toward the garden’s upkeep.