Hildene – The Lincoln Family Home (Manchester, VT) – May 2015

4 May 2015:  HILDENE

Back in Senior Year in high school, I had a “personal enrichment” class called Humanities which had field trips to a number of historical and culturally significant areas in the region.  Hildene was one of the places visited.  Of course the memories of those trips are fleeting due to age and the raging hormones of youth disrupting all normal brain activity.  Nevertheless, this was on the list of places I’d been wanting go back to.

During one of the visits to the area when Lee was still with me (I think this was when we’d gone to the Clark Museum or the Bennington Battle Monument), we’d passed a sign that mentioned it, and Mum mentioned that she’d never been there at all.  I noted that was place to go on a later visit.  Sure it was a little later than planned, but when I was preparing for my yearly visit, I told Mum that Hildene was on the top of my list.

As we traveled south on Route 7A to reach Hildene, we passed the Equinox Resort.  While that seems like a trivial comment now, we learned later that’s where the Lincoln family was staying when Robert Todd Lincoln (the only son of President Abraham Lincoln to survive to adulthood) became enamored with the area.  The short film at the Visitor’s Center provided that info, as well as Robert Todd Lincoln’s connection to the Pullman Car Company, so be sure to watch those first.  (As a quick aside, the Pullman Car on the premises was a recent addition, thus something I wouldn’t have seen on my first visit.)

The tour starts with the main house, and the downstairs contains the dining room, kitchen, and sitting room.  Because the house was occupied by Lincoln’s descendants up until the late 1970’s, there were things which have been updated.  That is most notable in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Beyond that, the house has been restored to what it looked like when Robert Todd Lincoln lived there.

One room on first floor was the servant’s quarters.  What was amusing about it was the edges of the floor were only finished, so the rest of the bare wood was covered by an area rug in the center.  As most of the rooms have ropes across the entrances, you can only look into them, as opposed to being able to manipulate any of the artifacts inside.

The foyer has an old-style pipe organ which plays tunes off of paper rolls.  This was placed in here when the house was designed, as the pipes could be found on the landing of the stairs up to the second floor.  Our host let the organ play for a few minutes in order to give us an idea of how the house was filled with sound.  The small couch at the landing (between the pipes) was a wild place to sit and listen to the music.  See, even back during the Gilded Age people had hearing damage due to loud music.

Upstairs were other bedrooms, including the parlor of his wife Mary, and the room dedicated to Mary Lincoln Beckwith (who was the last surviving member of the family, and the last person to live in the house).  Mary Beckwith was an avid painter, and had other interests like photography and aviation.  The upper levels have more of the “updated” feel, as opposed to the ground floors which have the “original” décor.

At the rear of the home was where the Formal Gardens were.  The pattern was clearly visible, even though no plants had bloomed yet.  It had just begun to warm up, so it’d be a couple weeks before those were out in full bloom.

Off of the Garden was a section which overlooked the fields and wetlands along the Battenkill River, and was where a large portion of the 400 acres attached to the home were.

A gate (which I expected to be locked) yielded an interesting little surprise.  It lead to some stairs to a small cliff with a viewing area overlooking the valley.  While I’m sure when this was still a residence a small breakfast table was set up here, but for me today, it was a place to have some fun.  Look at me holding up the rock over-hang.  >grin<

Also on the grounds was a gazebo, which was a short walk from the main house (and really wasn’t that impressive), and a small observatory.  I’d venture to guess this was constructed for Mary Beckwith’s use, as the interior was very similar to Lowell Observatory I’d visited back in Flagstaff, AZ.  The telescope inside was small, but I’m sure the small amount of light pollution in the area.

I happened to notice a path which went off into the woods, and I took a quick moment to check it out.  What I discovered a set of stones erected to be the Hildene Award Honors.  As the trail continued on, there was a marker (made up of a pile of stones) to show the recipient for that year’s award.  That’s a hidden gem you’ll only locate if you explore off the main areas of the property.

Robert Todd Lincoln spent many years associated with the Pullman Car Company, and even served as their Vice President.  With that in mind, the group which maintained Hildene wanted to find a Pullman Car, and make that part of the museum.  That was done in 2011, when a car was located in the southern United States, restored, and transported here.  From the visitor’s center, it’s a short walk to where it rests now.

This car was known as “Sunbeam,” and dates from 1903, so it’s a fitting addition to the museum.  It sets in an area designed to look like a train stop where this type of car would pull up to.

Inside was spacious sitting areas which converted to sleeping spaces for those affluent people who were able to travel across country during the late 1800’s.  The front of the car had a small gallery where two servants would prepare meals, and they had bunks there too.

During this period, those who could afford to travel used the train for longest portion of the trip.  Their days were spent socializing, drinking, smoking cigars, playing board games, and looking out the window.

This was very interesting to see, from the way the seats converted to bunks to the hand-carved wood ornate trim inside the area.  What was even more amazing was the restoration of the “Sunbeam” was done using the same tools and techniques utilized when it was originally built.

From there, a shuttle will take you the Rowland Agricultural Center, which is technically part of the museum complex.  Here is a small goat farm, where their milk is harvested to make a variety of cheese products.  Everything needed to create the cheese is on the premises, and the building is self-sustaining with a large number of solar panels on the roof to provide power.

Those are the major areas of the grounds, and what could be seen within a couple hours.  As the site covers over 400 acres, that means there’s miles of hiking trails which cross-cross the area.  Exploring all the pathways could take an entire day, so have a picnic lunch handy.

This is one of those places which was so close to me when I lived in the region, it never occurred to me to take an afternoon drive back over.  And even on subsequent visits to the area (after I moved to another time-zone), there was always something else which was higher on my list to see.  My recommendation is spend the day exploring the Green Mountain region of Vermont, and this is a good place to start the day.

For more information on the places visited or mentioned:

Clark Museum (Williamstown, MA):  http://www.clarkart.edu/

Bennington Battle Monument:  http://www.benningtonbattlemonument.com/

Hildene:  http://www.hildene.org/

Equinox Resort (Manchester, VT):  http://www.equinoxresort.com/

Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff, AZ):  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Observatory

Hildene Award Honors:  http://visitmanchestervt.com/events/hildene-award-luncheon/

Pullman Car Company:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Company

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