THE BEST HOUSE MUSEUMS IN NEW ENGLAND

This month we celebrate and present Independent Historic House Museums throughout New England. All are open for your enjoyment most of the year, including the month of March.

MASSACHUSETTS

Gibson House Museum 137 Beacon Street Boston, MA thegibsonhouse.org

Welcome to 19th century Boston! The Gibsons are a Brahmin family and their experiences offer us an opportunity to explore class and culture in 19th and early 20th century Boston.

Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum 67 East Road Adams, MA susanbanthonybirthplace.com

Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams on February 15, 1820. Her Federal-style home built in 1818, and stands as an important symbol of the women’s suffrage movement. The museum highlights the familial and regional influences that shaped Ms. Anthony’s early life.

Emily Dickinson House 280 Main Street Amherst, MA emilydickinsonmuseum.org

The Emily Dickinson Museum includes The Homestead, where Emily Dickinson lived most of her life, and The Evergreens, another family residence. The two houses share three acres of the family property. Tours are offered.

Orchard House Home of Louisa May Alcott 399 Lexington Road Concord, MA louisamayalcott.org

Amos Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott, who wrote and set her classic, Little Women, in 1868 at a “shelf desk” her father built especially for her) purchased two houses on 12 acres on Lexington Road in 1857.

The House of the Seven Gables 115 Derby Street Salem, MA 7gables.org

The House of the Seven Gables was built by a Salem sea captain and lived in by three generations of his family before it was sold in 1782 to Samuel Ingersoll. His daughter was a cousin of the author Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Hawthorne’s visits to the house are credited with inspiring his 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables. The Gardens at The House of the Seven Gables replicate Colonial era plants and garden uses. Visitors to the house may take a guided tour of the mansion, visit Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birth house (which was moved to this property), Kid’s Cove, three-season gardens and a unique Museum Store. Fortunately, there have been no major structural changes to the house since the Alcotts’ time, with ongoing preservation efforts adhering to the highest standards of authenticity. Since approximately 80 percent of the furnishings on display were owned by the Alcotts, the rooms look very much as they did when the family lived here.

RHODE ISLAND

Clouds Hill Museum 4157 Post Road Warwick, RI cloudshill.org

In December 2014, Clouds Hill (a.k.a. Cedar Hill) was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The museum house is highlighted by the architecture and interior finish and furnishings, and other collections include

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Guided tours of the estate, featured in the film The Great Gatsby, are given May through Columbus Day,

home of louisa may alcott, who wrote and set her classic, little women, in 1868 at a “shelf desk” her father built especially for her. concord, massachusetts. (photo taken in 1941).

textiles, with family articles dating back to the 1870s; porcelain, including the dinner set used by Elizabeth and her family; and much more. The carriage museum houses more than 12 carriages, including a gypsy wagon from the mid-1800s, and related accessories. The property on which the house sits has been referred to as the West Bay arboretum and is the home to more than 70 species of trees and shrubs— tree walks begin at the Center for the Outdoors.

Linden Place 500 Hope St. Route 114 Bristol, RI lindenplace.org Linden Place mansion was built in 1810 by the seafaring General George DeWolf. The property includes the mansion, a ballroom built in 1906, a barn built in the 19th century, and an 18th century summer house. The grounds include lovely sculpture-filled gardens. Live music performances are offered throughout the year.

Smith-Appleby House 220 Stillwater Road Smithfield, RI smithapplebyhouse.org

A restored farmhouse, built in 1696, is a 12 room structure near Georgiaville Pond and is registered on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are led by interpreters in Colonial attire. Visitors learn about the house’s history and architecture; hear stories about the SmithAppleby family; and see demonstrations of 18th and 19th century life.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Strawbery Banke Museum 14 Hancock Street Portsmouth, NH strawberybanke.org

Strawbery Banke Museum, adjacent to the city’s riverside Prescott Park, is a 10 acre outdoor history museum that preserves 32 domestic and commercial buildings that were lived in and used on this land during 300 years of the town’s history. People of all ages may explore eight gardens, buildings, traditional crafts, and preservation programs. Stories of the neighborhood are told by costumed roleplayers. Lots of educational and seasonal special events, year-round. A visit of 2 hours is recommended.

VERMONT

Hildene, the Lincoln family home 1005 Hildene Road Manchester, VT hildene.org

The Georgian Revival mansion was built in 1905 in the scenic village of Manchester by Robert Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive to adulthood. Robert Lincoln was chairman of the Pullman Company, the largest manufacturing corporation at the turn of the 20th century. Hildene was home to only Lincoln descendants until 1975. Visitors may take guided or self guided tours and see a 1,000 pipe aeolian pipe organ, a gift from Robert to his wife, the Hoyt formal gardens. The Observatory, the 1903 Pullman car Sunbeam, and Hildene Farm. This is a site on the Vermont African American Heritage Trail and includes an exhibit, Many Voices, highlighting the Pullman porters and the subsequent rise of the black middle class.

CONNECTICUT

Mark Twain House & Museum 351 Farmington Avenue Hartford, CT marktwainhouse.org

Visit the Mark Twain House and Museum and take a tour of one of the top ten historic houses in the world. Walk through Twain’s home, where the Clemens family lived for 17 years. Explore the servants’ wing where a bustling staff kept up with the busy family and the children’s rooms and conservatory where they played. Browse Twain’s personal library and the famous Billiard Room where The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were written. center’s collections, which include letters, artifacts, paintings and memorabilia, is the dining room table where she wrote the most famous of her 30 books, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Outside, several Victorianera gardens reveal Stowe’s interest in flower gardening. Visitors are encouraged by knowledgeable guides to engage in conversation as they tour the home, learning about how Stowe and her family lived, the issues of their time (and ours) and what inspired her. Salon, or parlor, conversations on those issues are held regularly.

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Mathews Park 295 West Ave. Norwalk, CT lockwoodmathewsmansion.com

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is regarded as one of the earliest and most significant Second Empire Style country houses in the United States. Built by renowned financier and railroad tycoon

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center 77 Forest Street Hartford, CT

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is based in the activist author’s meticulously preserved Victorian Gothic cottage, where she lived for 23 years. Among the LeGrand Lockwood from 1864-1868, the Mansion, with its unparalleled architecture and interiors, illustrates magnificently the beauty and splendor of the Victorian Era.

MAINE

Fairfield History House 42 High Street Fairfield, Maine fairfieldmehistoricalsociety.net

The Cotton-Smith House is a historic house at 42 High Street in Fairfield, Maine. Built in 1890, it is one of Fairfield’s finest Queen Anne Victorian houses. It was built by Joseph Cotton, owner of the Maine Manufacturing Company, which produced iceboxes, and occupied by him for just four years. The house was acquired in 1983 by the Fairfield Historical Society, which operates it as the Fairfield History House, a museum of local history. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.