Harkness Memorial State Park

Harkness Memorial State Park
Connecticut State Park
The mansion and gardens from above
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
County	New London
Town	Waterford
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)
Coordinates	41°18′18″N 72°06′48″W / 41.30500°N 72.11333°W / 41.30500; -72.11333Coordinates: 41°18′18″N 72°06′48″W / 41.30500°N 72.11333°W / 41.30500; -72.11333
Area	230 acres (93 ha)
Bequeathed to state	1950
Management	Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Location in Connecticut
Website: Harkness Memorial State Park
Eolia—The Harkness Estate
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Great Neck Road, Waterford, Connecticut
Area	220 acres (89 ha)
Built	1906-1907
Architect	Lord & Hewlett; et al.
Architectural style	Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Second Renaissance Revival
NRHP Reference #	86003331
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1986

Harkness Memorial State Park is a 230-acre (93 ha) Connecticut state park and botanical garden located on Long Island Sound in the town of Waterford, Connecticut. The state park comprises Eolia, a 42-room Renaissance Revival mansion with formal gardens and greenhouses.

The park was the former summer home of philanthropists Edward and Mary Harkness, who inherited the fortune created by Edward's father, Stephen V. Harkness, who was a substantial investor in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. The mansion was designed by the New York architectural firm of Lord & Hewlett and constructed in 1906-1907. From 1918 to 1929, landscape designer Beatrix Jones Farrand made extensive improvements to the grounds, adding numerous formal gardens. The estate was left to the state by Mary Harkness in 1950 and became part of the state park system in 1952. Eolia—The Harkness Estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as a 220-acre (89 ha) historic district with 15 contributing buildings and two other contributing structures.

The park offers mansion tours, picnicking, and shoreline fishing.