Larz Anderson Park —
Your Complete Guide
Brookline's largest park: a hilltop estate with a view of Boston, a car museum in the old Carriage House, an open-air ice rink and a lagoon with a little temple.
What is Larz Anderson Park?
Larz Anderson Park is the largest park in Brookline, Massachusetts: the former estate of Larz and Isabel Anderson, now a Town park open dawn to dusk at Goddard Avenue and Newton Street.The Town's inventory puts it at 61.13 acres (other Town documents say 61 to 65). It is lawns at the top of a hill, playing fields and long slopes, with what the Town calls exceptional views of Boston from the high point where the Andersons' house stood.
Most people come for one of four things. The Larz Anderson Auto Museum fills the estate's Carriage House with "America's Oldest Car Collection" and runs car shows on its lawn nearly every weekend from May to October. The Jack Kirrane rink, an outdoor Town rink in the estate's old Italian Garden, draws skaters all winter, and the slopes below it fill with sleds after a snowfall. In summer, families book the grill sites and shelter near the playground, and couples marry at the Temple of Love on the lagoon. Everything else, from the walks to the view, costs nothing.
Larz Anderson Park at a Glance
What to Do at Larz Anderson Park
Cars from May to October, skates and sleds in winter, picnics and the view all year.
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
"America's Oldest Car Collection" in the Andersons' Carriage House, 15 Newton Street. Open 10 am – 3 pm, Tuesday through Sunday.
Hours & Tickets →Lawn Events & Car Shows
Car shows on the museum lawn nearly every weekend from May to October, each built around a marque, a country or an era.
Lawn Events Guide →Ice Skating
The Jack Kirrane rink, an open-air Town rink in the old Italian Garden at the top of the park, with public skate sessions all winter.
Rink Hours & Prices →Sledding
The Town calls the park's long grassy slopes a premier spot for sledding. Here's where people go and how to park on a snow day.
Sledding Guide →Picnics, BBQ & Permits
12 grill sites for small groups and a covered shelter for up to 85 people, booked through Brookline Recreation.
Permits & Fees →Weddings
Three Town ceremony sites: the Temple of Love by the lagoon, the Top of the Hill and the Allée.
Ceremony Sites →Lagoon & Temple of Love
A figure-eight pond with a domed temple, a causeway and a footbridge, all rebuilt by the Town in 2021–22.
About the Lagoon →Playground
An enclosed children's play area beside the restrooms and the picnic shelter.
Playground Guide →Dogs & Green Dog
Leashed dogs are welcome on the paths. Registered Green Dog dogs can run off leash on the top of the hill, Avon Street side only at set hours.
Dog Rules →The Top of the Hill
The summit is the reason many people know the park. The Andersons' mansion stood here until the Town took the empty house down in 1955; today it is open lawn, a cement platform with a curved bench, and a skyline view of Boston. The Town lists the slopes for sledding, sunsets, stargazing and kite flying, and the hilltop on the Avon Street side is where Brookline's Green Dog program lets registered dogs off leash. Accessible parking sits at the top of the hill, by the Town's account of the rink project. History of the estate · Park map.
The Estate Gardens That Remain
The Andersons' formal gardens are mostly gone, but pieces survive and the Town is restoring them. Its map of the park's surviving landscape elements lists the walls of the Italianate Garden around the ice rink, a wall fountain, a well head, pergolas, a stone exedra at the old pinetum, the site of the Japanese Garden, the Lionhead Fountain from the Chinese Garden, and an allée of trees ending in stone benches. The lagoon's Temple of Love, causeway and footbridge were rebuilt from the ground up in 2021–22. The park is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. The lagoon.
Fields, Gardens and Town Uses
The lower park holds a baseball and softball field and a multi-sport field where William Fletcher Weld II once kept a polo ground. Fields are first come, first served unless a league holds a permit. Brookline Recreation runs more than 80 community garden plots here for residents with little or no space of their own, and the Town's Parks division keeps its maintenance yard inside the park.
What Not to Do
Brookline's park rules ban alcohol, smoking, fireworks and fires outside the grill sites, and they ban swimming, wading and boating in any body of water, so the lagoon is for looking at. The Town's brochure adds no fishing in the lagoon, no portable grills and no inflatables, and the museum says no drones anywhere in the park. Groups of 15 or more need a permit. All the rules.
How to Get to Larz Anderson Park
The park road enters from Newton Street and leaves by Avon Street; the museum and rink are on Newton Street.
By Car
Drive in from Newton Street, past the ice rink lot, to the summit lot; the road continues downhill to Avon Street. The Town lists no parking fee. Parking guide.
Show Days
On car-show weekends the museum says parking is very limited in the park and nearby. Carpool, use a rideshare or ride a bike. Lawn events.
Who to Call
Park maintenance: (617) 879-5650. Permits: Brookline Recreation, 617-730-2069. Museum: 617-522-6547. All contacts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Larz Anderson Park free?
The Town of Brookline lists no entry or parking fee for the park. The paid extras are the auto museum, the ice rink, and a permit if you want to reserve a grill site, the shelter or a wedding ceremony site.
Where is Larz Anderson Park?
In Brookline, Massachusetts, at Goddard Avenue and Newton Street. The park road enters from Newton Street, climbs past the ice rink lot to a summit lot, and exits downhill onto Avon Street.
What are the hours at Larz Anderson Park?
Brookline's park rules open public parks dawn to dusk. The auto museum and the ice rink keep their own hours.
Can you see Boston from Larz Anderson Park?
Yes. The Town describes exceptional views of Boston from the highest point of the park, where the Andersons' house once stood, and Brookline Recreation calls the Top of the Hill's skyline view exceptional.
Are dogs allowed at Larz Anderson Park?
Yes, on a leash no longer than seven feet. Dogs registered in Brookline's Green Dog program may be off leash on the top of the hill, Avon Street side only, at set hours. Dogs are never allowed in the play area, the pond, the garden area or the BBQ sites and shelter.
Who owns Larz Anderson Park?
The Town of Brookline. Isabel Anderson left the estate to the town, which records the gift in 1951 "for purposes of public recreation." The Parks and Open Space Division maintains it; Brookline Recreation issues permits.