About the Museum

HOME TO AMERICA’S OLDEST CAR COLLECTION

The Larz Anderson Auto Museum is located in the lavish and original 1888 carriage house located on the grounds of the former Weld Estate, now Larz Anderson Park, in Brookline, Massachusetts. The building was inspired by the Chateau de Chaumont-Sur-Loire in France and designed by Edmund M. Wheelwright, the city architect of Boston. First constructed as a working stable, it later served to house and maintain the Andersons’ growing collection of motorcars.

Larz and Isabel Anderson began their love affair with the automobile before the turn of the century. In 1899, soon after they married, they purchased a new Winton Runabout, a true horseless carriage. From 1899 to

1948 the Andersons purchased at least 32 new motorcars in addition to numerous carriages, thus creating “America’s Oldest Car Collection.”

As each car became obsolete it would be retired to the Carriage House. By 1927, the Andersons began opening the building to the public for tours of their “ancient” vehicles. When Isabel Anderson passed away in 1948, it was her wish that the motorcar collection be known as the “Larz Anderson Collection,” and that a separate non-profit organization be created to promote the mission of preserving the collection and automotive history. The grounds of Larz Anderson Park include a romantic pond, a picturesque view of the Boston skyline just four miles away, acres of lush open space with walking paths throughout and an ice skating rink that is open to the public during the winter months. Today, the Carriage House is on the National Register of Historic Places. A landmark within the community and both a cultural and educational hub in the automotive world, it continues to house and preserve the fourteen motorcars that remain in the Larz Anderson Collection.

ABBY MCBRIDE | PHOTOS: ETHAN PELLEGRINO