Step inside the museum to be transported to the 18th and 19th centuries and learn about the lives of those who built, lived in, and preserved the house. Winning submissions from the 2023-2024 Trees for Suffield Photo Contest will be on display in the Visitor’s Center.
During September and October’s Open Tour days, visitors are invited to hear about the history of the home’s original 18th century wallpapers and the current efforts to stabilize them. In the Visitor’s Center, guests of all ages can try their hand at making their own wallpaper using decorative stamps and tempera paint! Regular fees apply to tours, but the wallpaper activity will be held free of charge. Learn more about the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden wallpaper project here.
Suffield native Shem Burbank built a center chimney structure in 1761 where he and his wife Anna Fitch Burbank raised nine children. Although well-appointed for the mid 18th century, the Burbank house reflected conservative trends in design popular for the period. Financial hardship forced Burbank to sell his house to Oliver Phelps in 1788. The youngest of 17 children from neighboring Windsor, CT, Oliver Phelps was apprenticed to a Suffield merchant at an early age. During the Revolution, he skillfully served as Deputy Commissary under George Washington. A budding land speculator after the War, Phelps commissioned the addition of a substantial wing decorated with imported Parisian wallpaper in 1794. From the stylish new rooms, Phelps peddled a vision of American expansion to New Englanders looking for a new life in the west. Phelps’ attempts to sell significant swaths of Seneca Nation land as part of Connecticut’s Western Reserve proved unsuccessful; within a decade, his fortunes had collapsed. Understand the role of Connecticut in the American Revolution, examine colonial era trade and commercial exchange, consider land and real estate speculation and Indigenous people’s land rights, and observe the ways we display wealth and status in our homes.
Advance registration for tours appreciated, but walk-ups welcome as space permits! House tours leave on the hour; last tour departs at 3 pm.
CTL Members, please sign in to our ticketing system to access your benefits.
If you have any questions, please email phelps.hatheway@ctlandmarks.org or call 860-668-0055.