Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
If you’re visiting Manchester, Vermont – a stop at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home is a must, for the history, the grounds, and the view.
As a born and raised Vermonter, I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of this beautiful state and experienced fall foliage almost every year of my life. When a friend asked if I’d like to meet her in Manchester, Vermont to visit Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home I was surprised I hadn’t been there already.
What I got was a beautiful day of history and nature.
Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
I had mostly seen Hildene on the cover of wedding magazines or when Manchester was being highlighted and didn’t know much about this historic home. Little did I know there was a carefully curated portrayal of the home as it would have been in the first quarter of the 20th century.
I am not a history buff but I still found it fascinating. It is also beautiful architecture overlooking beautifully landscaped gardens sitting high enough up among the Green Mountains that you felt like you should start singing ‘The Hills are Alive’.
Parking and Admission
There is a long driveway to get into the grounds of Hildene. As we drove in I just imagined a horse trying to drag a plow along in the winter. Later we found that it was primarily the family’s summer home as they wintered in Chicago, so plowing the driveway wasn’t their main challenge.
At the end of the driveway is a parking area. Prior to getting to the parking lot you see the attendant to buy your ticket.
Adult admission is $23, which gives you access to the house, seeing a fancy car, small observatory, some beautiful gardens, a historically restored railroad Pullman car, as well as miles of walking trails. There is also the Hildene Farm & Goat Dairy as well as the Dene Farm.
To keep you from getting lost there is a QR code you can download to your phone to get a map of the grounds.
On your way in there is a Welcome Center; however, we skipped it and went straight for the building with the restrooms after the long car ride. We also skipped it for the sake of not seeing some random thing that we (me) would want to buy. If you don’t see it you can’t want it, and if you don’t want it, you won’t buy it, right?
After our quick stop at the restroom we made our way to the house.
It is a self guided tour through the house
There was the fancy old car and a lovely gentleman that gave us a brief history of the family and the house. After the introduction we had to wait a few minutes to go into the house to as they were spacing out their groups.
Once in the house we were met with yet another guide to give us a quick overview of what we would see in the house, play the player organ, and explain how the tour would work. It was a self guided tour outlined by arrows on the floor, and to take all the pictures you would like.
In Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
We made our way through the rather regal Georgian Revival style house. We decided that compared to the more outlandishly lavish summer homes we had toured in our lives (the mansions in Newport for instance) that this felt nearly attainable.
The friend we were touring with is looking to buy a house and we made many suggestions based on this home for what she should look for in exaggerated sophisticated British accents that made us feel as though we should wear a Sherlock Holmes hat and smoke a pipe while saying it.
During the tour of the house we had our dose of Lincoln family history. The majority of the house was dedicated to the history and story of Robert and Mary Lincoln but there was a museum section in the upstairs of the house designated to President Lincoln. Among the most exciting of the artifacts was one of President Lincoln’s hats.
On the Grounds
There is as much to enjoy on the grounds as there is in the house at Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home. In addition to the gardens, there are a huge number of walking trails available, a Pullman Car, an observatory, and more to see.
The Gardens and View
After touring the house we made our way into the gardens. The gardens were beautiful although maybe not as large and meandering as I might have expected. The views from the gardens were fantastic though and had we been touring a bit later when foliage was in full swing it would have easily been worthy of a postcard.
Pro Tip:
If you are looking to visit Vermont for foliage, mid/late September through the first week or two in October is best. When “peak” foliage is changes every year based on the weather, but if you plan around late September to early October you’ll usually hit it pretty well.
We made a quick jaunt over to the observatory and then decided to find the Pullman (fancy railroad) car. This journey ended up with us walking along the trails for probably a mile or so, but with beautiful weather it was nice to go for a walk in the woods.
Once we were at the Pullman car they would bring two small groups onto the platform at a time, give them an overview of the Pullman company, Robert Lincoln’s association with them, as well as the car we were looking at.
Apparently this particular car was found on the banks of a river in Georgia and then was restored to its former glory. I hadn’t thought much about how the Lincoln’s would make their journey to Chicago each winter, but after seeing the car realized both the level of wealth they had but also the size of the undertaking to travel from Vermont to Chicago and back each year.
Is It Worth the Drive to Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home?
If you are looking for something that is at least reasonably educational and has indoor and outdoor areas this could be a good journey to take. I personally felt like the price was kind of steep, but at the same time understand the amount of upkeep that is necessary to maintain and employ the necessary staff.
