The Mansions of Newport, RI

The Breakers - the Vanderbilt Cottage

Another view of the front of the Breakers

Rear - just as grand as the front!

A rather imposing front gate - The Breakers

Rosecliff - the party mansion

The rear of Rosecliff

Other "cottages" in the background

Chateau Sur Mer

The Elms

The rear of the Elms

Marble House 

Burlington VT

We've had a busy time in Burlington area!   The first two days we were here we revisited the Shelburne Museum.   It really does take two days!   The museum has 39 buildings on 45 acres of land and 150,000 artifacts!    The museum was started by the Webb family who used their fortune to collect buildings and artifacts.   One of the items that was collected was the Ticonderoga the last paddle wheel boat that traveled Lake Champlainel until the 1950's.   The Webb's bought the boat and brought it two miles inland to the Museum.   The Webbs had an eye for art, and their collection included Monet, Manet, Cassette, and they donated 2000 pieces to art galleries in New York and Chicago and the Shelburne Museum has an extensive collection as well.  

The Ethan Allen Homestead is a rather "new" addition to the historical scene in Burlington.   In 1981 a researcher was delving into the history of Ethan Allen and in looking at his papers, discovered the blueprint for Ethan's home with exact coordinates of where it was to be built.   He found a white house with the approximate size on land where Ethan Allen's home was to be built.    The house contained the 1700 timbers and inner space was indeed the footprint of Ethan's house.   They dismantaled the house and moved the timbers a short distance away and rebuilt Ethan's house and it opened to the public in 1995.  

On another day we drove about 35 miles NE to the Champlain islands.   Our goal was Saint Anne's Shrine on Isle La Motte and the Hyde Log Cabin on grand Isle, VT.   The Shrine is on the site of Fort St. Anne, Vermont's oldest settlement, constructed in 1666 where the first Mass in Vermont was celebrated.  Although the Fort itself was shortlived, the site continued to be a favorite stopping place for Lake Champlain travelers.   The Shrine includes a Cafe, Gift Shop, Picnic facilites, a chapel where Mass is offered on weekends.  There are many grottos and statues on the grounds.   In addition, a statue of Samuel de Champlain is located on the site, where it is claimed that he landed in 1609 .  

On the way back from Isle La Motte we stopped at the Hyde Log Cabin and Block Schoolhouse.   The log cabin was built by Jedediah Hyde Jr. in 1783.  It is considered to be one of the oldest log cabins in the US.   The cabin served as a home to various members of the Hyde family for nearly 150 years.  The cabin contains some of the original furnishings, as well as furnishings from other homes in the county.  

The Block Schoolhouse was originally knows as District #4 Schoolhouse, but became known as the Block Schoolhouse because of its construction of foot-thick squared-off logs.   The school was built in 1814 and was used as a school, a church, and a town meeting hall.  

On returning to the mainland we went north on I-89 to Fairfield to see the site of the birthplace of Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States.   The site has a reconstructed homestead and offers an exhibit portraying Arthur's life and political career.

Moving on to the White River Junction region on the eastern central area of Vermont.

Hartford, Connecticut Area - 8/12-8/16 2014

We camped near Willington, CT which was about 24 miles from Hartford, CT.   The campground was a bit primitive by current camping standards -- no cable, no wifi, no sewer.

On Wednesday we went into Hartford and visited the CT state history museum and then went across the street and toured the Capitol.   It's a beautiful structure, and we were in time for a guided tour.   Our guide wrote two books on baseball, and had been to the Cities numerous times to watch the Twins play.

Back to Hartford on Thursday to visit the homes of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and his backyard neighbor, Harriet Beecher Stowe.   Our first guided tour was of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Victorian Gothic home.   It was her final residence for twenty-three years.   She, her husband, and twin daughters shared the home.   During the last years her daughters ran the house and cared for Harriet, as she had become forgetful and unable to run the home.

In 1874 Samuel Clemens, a rising celebrity now known as Mark Twain, built a 25 room "Picturesque Gothic mansion that became the talk of the town.   It was in this house that he worked on the novels that changed the face of American literature:  The Adventures of Tom awyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Twain, his wife, and three girls lived here for 17 years before bankruptcy caused him to close up the house and move to Europe for 9 years  where the cost of living was cheaper.

On Friday we drove 35 miles to Canterbury to visit the Prudence Crandall house.   Prudence was a Quaker woman who had opened an academy for young women.   In 1833 she admitted a black girl which resulted in all the white girls being pulled out by their parents.   Prudence then traveled the countryside recruiting black girls to attend her academy.   The townspeople were very upset with this and attacked the house, breaking windows and jailing Prudence. When released,  Prudence and her family moved to New York, then Illinois, and finally to Kansas where she continued her teaching.   Eventually she was vindicagd for her efforts and in 1975 was named the Connecticut state heroine.

Saturday we drove back to Hartford (MUCH easier finding parking places on Saturday!) where we visited the Butler-McCook house and gardens.  The house was built by Daniel Butler in 1782 and his family would call it home for two centuries.  Butlers and McCooks lived in the house until 1971.  The house is the only 18th century house left on Hartford's Main Street, and one of only four remaining 18th century buildings in Hartford.

On Sunday we left for Colchester, Vermont.

Harriet Beecher Stowe home - Rear

Mark Twain Home

Front of Stowe residence

Side view of Mark Twain's home

A visit to Rhode Island - Providence

From East Lyme, CT we drove to Rhode Island where we camped in North Scituate, about 25 miles from Providence.   We visited Providence on our first day of touring.   It was an easy drive to Providence, but getting around the historic district was a challenge especially around Brown University!   Several roads were closed for repairs, which limited parking and traffic jams were the order of the day.    Our first museum house was the Governor Lippitt house, and we parked about 8 blocks away and walked to it.

The New York Times calls the Lippitt house "one of the most complete, authentic and intact Victorian houses in the country."  The house was built in 1865 by Henry Lippitt , a wealthy industrialist and vigorous politician.   He built his mansion in the style of the day as a testament to his family's taste and ambition.  The  Lippitt had six children and a domestic staff.   Their daughter Jeanie had scarlet fever and lost her hearing at the age of four.   Mrs. Lippitt taught her to speak again and read lips.

The house was designated a National Historic Landmark and was occupied by the Lippitt family until it was donated to the Preserv Rhode Island in 1981.   Later generations of the Lippitt family have continued the tradition of public service, producing three Rhode Island Governors, three U>S> senators, and a Secretary of the Navy.

We found a Johnny Rocket's and had lunch there (eat your hearts out Angie and Bridget), and then walked about 10 blocks to the John Brown home, one of early America's grandest mansions and Rhode
 Island's most famous 18th century home.  It was built in 1788 by John Brown, a wealthy businessman, patriot, privateer, policitian and slave trader.  Brown University is named for him.  He and his wife, Sarah, had four children.   Early in the 20th century the home was bought by business tycoon Marsden Perry who turned the house into a stately monument to the Colonial past.

While John was a slave trader, his brother Moses Brown was an abolitionist and lived in Pawtucket, RI.
He was owner of the Slater Mill, which had been started by an English emigrant who brought his knowledge of the making of cotton thread from England to America with him.   The mill is a National Historic Landmark and is considered the Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.  The mill showcases the early water-powered machinery used in making cotton into cotton thread which then could be loomed into clothing and household linens.   The mill employed children ages 6-12 to work the machinery and as the machinery became larger and more intricate young women were hired to work.   Their hours were increased and their pay cut and that caused them to strike and they successfully got their pay back, but no increase.   It should be noted that working almost a 7-day week, they made less than $200/year.

Lippitt Home - fountain

Lippitt Home Museum Sign

The Lippitt Mansion

John Brown/Marsden Perry Home

On the front steps to Brown/Perry Home

John Brown House Sign

Pictures from New London, CT

New London - Avery-Copp House

New London - Shaw Mansion

New London - 1600 Hempstead House

New London - the Stone House

Hale Homestead - preserving eggs for winter

Egg coated in lard and placed in sand in crock

At the Hale birthplace

The Hale Homestead

Nathan Hale Birthplace, Coventry Connecticut

We visited the Nathan Hale School in New London earlier in our stay here.   On our last full day here we traveled 26 miles to Coventry, Connecticut to see where this hero was born.   The house he was born in is no longer there, as the family of 12 had outgrown their 800 square foot house and had started building a bigger home in back of the original structure.   Nathan and two of his brothers joined the Army of the Revolution and went off to war.   Meanwhile his father and remaining family built the current house.   Nathan never saw it finished.

George Washington asked for volunteers to spy on the British, and 21-year-old Nathan Hale volunteered.   He had no spy training and was caught by the British on his first assignment.   As he was being hung, he said "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

The house we visited remained in the family until 1913.   A rich collector purchased the house and we have him to thank for saving this historic site.

When touring the house today, we learned about the colonial way of saving eggs over the winter.   The eggs are totally covered with lard and placed in a crock and covered with sand.   That preserved the eggs for use during the winter.

This was an interesting tour, and we totally enjoyed our guide.   She gave us an assignment since we're from Minnesota --- why is there a statue of Nathan Hale on Summit Avenue in St. Paul????

East Lyme, New London and Niantic CT

We arrived in East Lyme on July 30 and on the 31st we headed to New London and hoped to find a Visitor's Center.   What a wild goose chase!   There IS NO VISITOR's CENTER.   We found that there are several historic restoration organizations in the area and NONE of them speak to each other!   Warring tribes!  

We got fed up so parked the car and  started walking and we discovered on the Nathan Hale schoolhouse.   Nathan Hale is quite the hero in Connecticut.   He was hung as a spy and his famous comment was "I regret that I have only one life to give for my country".   Thankfully there was a young history major volunteering there and he gave us suggestions of things to see.   We discovered that historic sights are only open from 1-4, and usually Friday through Sunday.  

Our next venture was over to Groton, CT across the Thames River from New London where we visited the Avery-Copp house/museum.  The house was built in 1800 and contains original furnishings passed from generation togeneration in the same family.  The docent there suggested we go to the Fort Griswold bttlefield State Park just up the road.  This was the site of the battle of 9/6/1781 when 800 British forces commanded by Benedict Arnold defeated 165 local patriots.   In the bloody massacre 85 Americans were killed and 35 were wounded.   Down slope from the Fort is the home of defender Ensign Ebenezer Avery which sheltered many woulded after the battle.   We toured the house  and also the museum on the site of the fort.

Our final stop that day was the home of Nathaniel Shaw.   The docent was a Wolfpack grad whose hubby is in the Nuclear Sub force.   We talked about the Sadlacks closure and the roundabout on Hillsborough St.   The Shaw house was the home of Nathaniel Shaw, commissioned Naval Agent for Connecticut by the Continental Congress.   Late in the summer of 1781, near the end of the war, the British decided to punish New London.   They sent 1600 trooops under Benedict Arnold to destroy the city.   The Shaw house was a primary target.   On that day close of 150 buildings were destroyed, but not the Shaw Mansion.   The Shaw house also boasts that George Washington slept there.

Sunday, August 3 we drove back to New London and toured the Hempstead Houses.  The first house was built in 1678 and is the oldest in the city.   The other was built in 1759 by a ropemaker.   Residents over the years included one of New London's early civic leaders, at least two enslaved people, a hero of the American Revolution and some of the city's leading abolitionists.   Both houses survived the burning of New London by Benedict Arnold in 1781.   We drove back to East Lyme and visited the 1850 farm home - the Smith Harris House.

Hans Herr House 1719

Tuesday after leaving Landis Valley Village we drove a few miles to the Hans Herr House.   We arrived just in time for the 3 p.m. tour.  Our tour guide had lived on the site for several years in the building that now holds the Visitor Center.

The 1719 Hans Herr House is the oldest standing structure in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.   It was built by Mennonite settlers who came to Penn's Woods seeking religious freedom.   The home is a magnificent example of medieval German architecture.   The building is constructed of sandstone which is prevalent in that area.    We were able to climb the steep steps into the second floor and went down into the vegetable cellar.   It's unusual to be able to access those spaces in historic homes.

From the Hans Herr House we drove to Bird-in-Hand, a small Amish community with several stores.   For us, the attraction was the Bird-in-Hand Amish restaurant!   YUM!!!!

Hans Herr House 1719

Pictures of Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum Pictures

Conestoga Wagon

Country Store - 1900

Landis Valley House Hotel  1856

Ourside the General Store

Landis Brothers House Built in 1870

Maple Grove School - 1890

Re-created Log German Farmstead of 1750-1800 period