New England Tudor

What: Six bedrooms, six baths, one half bath in 7,624 square feet on 3.52 acres

Where: Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., about 30 miles northeast of Boston

Amenities: Grounds designed in 1930s by landscape architect Fletcher Steele, extensive Alpine gardens. Hilltop location with views of Atlantic Ocean, Misery Island, Marblehead. Patio overlooking grounds with large statue of Neptune, stone-edged goldfish pool, arbor. Large living room with Italian marble fireplace, dining room with fireplace, master-bedroom suite with sitting room and ocean views.

Asking Price: $2.5 million

Opening Bid*: $2.2 million

Agent: Lanse Robb, Christie's Great Estates affiliate LandVest, 617-357-8996

Due Diligence: This large Tudor mansion was built around 1883 for Boston Symphony founder Henry Lee Higginson and his family. In the 1930s, Mr. Steele -- a student of Frederick Law Olmsted, one of the designers of New York's Central Park -- designed the grounds for then-owner Mary Kenly. For her, Mr. Steele bought the statue of Neptune that stands on the patio. When current owner Catherine Hull acquired the home in the 1950s, she set about restoring the grounds. Rocks in the earth frustrated her attempts to create an English garden with a deep perennial border -- so she turned the obstacles to her advantage and created a rocky Alpine-style garden that's been photographed for several publications over the years. Now Mrs. Hull has decided to downsize to a smaller property easier to maintain. There's a carriage house on 1.91 acres across the street from the property that also will be available for an asking price of $750,000, once the main estate has sold.

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