Hill–Stead Museum is a

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

house and art museum set on a large estate at 35 Mountain Road in

Farmington, Connecticut Farmington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The populati ...

. It is best known for its French Impressionist masterpieces, architecture, and stately grounds. The property was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

as a nationally significant example of Colonial Revival architecture, built in 1901 to designs that were the result of a unique collaboration between Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the United States' first female architects, and the renowned firm of

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

. The house was built for Riddle's father, Alfred Atmore Pope, and the art collection it houses was collected by Pope and Riddle.

House and museum

Hill–Stead was created on as a country estate for wealthy industrialist Alfred Atmore Pope, to the designs of his daughter Theodate Pope Riddle. Egerton Swartwout of the architectural firm

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

translated her design into a working site plan, and construction took place over the period of 1898 to 1901. Theodate inherited the house after her parents' deaths, and prior to her own passing in 1946 willed Hill–Stead Museum as a memorial to her parents and "for the benefit and enjoyment of the public". She directed that both the house and its contents remain intact, not to be moved, lent, or sold. Hill–Stead comprises , the balance having been sold off during the first years of the museum's operation. Buildings which remain part of the property include the Pope-Riddle House itself (a large mansion built in the Colonial Revival style and once described as "a great new house on a hilltop" by novelist and occasional guest

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

); an 18th-century farm house; a carriage garage with an Arts and Crafts theater; a barn and additional farm buildings. Today, 19 rooms of the house are open to visitors. Remaining as it was at the time of Theodate's death, the house is extensively furnished with paintings, prints,

objets d'art In art history, the French term objet d'art (; ) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish ...

, and fine furniture and rugs. Highlights of the collection include major paintings by Eugène Carrière,

Mary Cassatt Mary Stevenson Cassatt (; May 22, 1844June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh's North Side (Pittsburgh), North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, whe ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is e ...

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

; prints including three engravings by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

(Melencolia I, 1514), 17 copper plate etchings and lithographs by

, and Japanese woodblock prints by artists Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''Bijin-ga, bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produ ...

; eight bronze sculptures by Antoine-Louis Barye; about 13,000 letters and postcards including correspondence from

and

; and about 2,500 photographs, including six of

Gertrude Käsebier Gertrude Käsebier (born Stanton; May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934) was an American photographer. She was known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans, and her promotion of photogra ...

's art photographs. Hill–Stead's grounds were originally designed in consultation with

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Warren H. Manning and feature a broad lawn with

ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...

and slate walkway; artificial pond; and formal, octagonal flower garden. Around 1920, landscape gardener

Beatrix Farrand Beatrix Cadwalader Farrand (née Jones; June 19, 1872 – February 28, 1959) was an American landscape gardener and landscape architect. Her career included commissions to design about 110 gardens for private residences, estates and country hom ...

redesigned the estate's Sunken Garden (1 acre) at Theodate's request. Due to the wartime labor shortage experienced during the 1940s, the garden grassed over leaving only the summerhouse in place. Though it was replanted in time, it was not until the 1980s that the Sunken Garden was restored to exhibit Farrand's original plan.

National Historic Landmark

Hill–Stead was declared a

in 1991. The Hill-Stead has also been the venue of one of the longest running poetry festivals in the country, the Sunken Garden Festival.

Gallery

Image:HillSteadMuseum.JPG, Hill–Stead Museum, South Side of House Image:HillsteadCraftshop.JPG, Breezway of Hill–Stead's Carriage House Image:Hill-Stead Museum (Farmington, CT) - sunken garden.JPG, The Sunken Garden Image:American_Elm_at_Hill-Stead_Museum_Property,_Farmington,_CT_-_July_6,_2014.jpg, American Elm (summer)

References

*''Hill–Stead: An Illustrated Museum Guide''. Farmington, CT: Hill–Stead Museum, 2003.

External links

Hill–Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill-Stead Museum Houses completed in 1901 Houses in Farmington, Connecticut National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut Metacomet Ridge Museums in Hartford County, Connecticut Historic house museums in Connecticut Art museums and galleries in Connecticut Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Gardens in Connecticut Former private collections in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut Museums on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Connecticut 1901 establishments in Connecticut

House and museum

National Historic Landmark

Gallery

See also

References

External links