…outstanding not only for excellence of design and beauty of execution, but also for subtle richness of detail.” As we inspect Harkness House’s English, French and Italian-style interiors, we’ll see lovingly preserved details that remain virtually unchanged since the house was completed in 1908, as a wedding gift for Edward and Mary Harkness. The house never truly left the family, for the building was bequeathed to The Commonwealth Fund, the Harkness family foundation, in 1952. Anna Harkness founded the Commonwealth Fund in 1918, with the mandate that it should “do something for the welfare of mankind.” To this day, the Commonwealth Fund remains one of the world’s leading public health research and policy foundations. As we tour the House’s sumptuous interiors, we’ll see where splendor met service in the Gilded Age.