Visit the Butler-McCook House & Garden is the only 18th-century home remaining on Hartford’s Main Street for a guided tour to learn about the McCook family, who loved music, art, and travel through explorations of the museum’s collections which include paintings, Japanese samurai armor, furniture, and toys.
Bring a lawn chair and a picnic dinner while you enjoy music in the lovely setting of the Butler-McCook House & Garden. Plus, be sure to stay for a free tour of the house’s first floor! Audio tours are available via the IZI.Travel app for the historic garden. The Amos Bull and Butler-McCook Houses will also celebrate featured artist exhibitions. Concerts happen rain or shine. In case of inclement weather, the concert will move indoors to the Amos Bull Community Room.
Join us to explore the architectural treasures of Coltsville and the Charter Oak neighborhoods. Discuss the impacts of industry and immigration on these neighborhoods in Hartford, including sites like the Colt Factory and its worker houses, the Church of the Good Shepherd and Parish House, the Capewell Nail Factory, and the Polish National Home.
Explore this beloved family home to learn about the booming industries and culture of Hartford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, understand medical practice and public health at this time, and learn more about the Isham and Terry families through the items they owned.
Join us on this new walk for 2025, as we cover what may seem like familiar geographic ground of Main Street, only with new stories to tell as we celebrate the lives of Hartford Women. Learn about Hannah Bunce Watson, Caroline Hewins, Elizabeth Colt, Beatrice Fox Auerbach, Ann Uccello & Carrie Saxon Perry, Ella Grasso, Katharine Houghton Hepburn, Mary Townsend Seymour and CT Suffragists, the Beecher sisters, and more.
Visit the Butler-McCook House & Garden, the only 18th-century home remaining on Hartford’s Main Street, for a guided tour to learn about the McCook family, who loved music, art, and travel through explorations of the museum’s collections which include paintings, Japanese samurai armor, furniture, and toys.
Upon a Midnight Dreary invites the audience to explore the haunting world of Edgar Allan Poe. As you move through the space within the Isham-Terry House, you will encounter live performances of Poe’s most iconic works, each brought to life by a different actor in a unique room. From "The Raven" to "The Tell-Tale Heart," each piece is presented as a dramatic monologue, blending poetry and prose with atmospheric staging.
Explore this beloved family home to learn about the booming industries and culture of Hartford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, understand medical practice and public health at this time, and learn more about the Isham and Terry families through the items they owned.
Visit the Butler-McCook House & Garden, the only 18th-century home remaining on Hartford’s Main Street, for a guided tour to learn about the McCook family, who loved music, art, and travel through explorations of the museum’s collections which include paintings, Japanese samurai armor, furniture, and toys.
Explore this beloved family home to learn about the booming industries and culture of Hartford in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, understand medical practice and public health at this time, and learn more about the Isham and Terry families through the items they owned.
Experience the holidays as the McCook family would have celebrated them and hear stories from their rich memories, along with a display of special items from the museum’s collection, as we close out our 2025 season. America's Tapestry will also be stitching at the Butler-McCook House & Garden during this open tour day!
Taking place during the Butler-McCook House & Garden's Open Tour Day, stitchers from America’s Tapestry will be joined by local artists from Hartford Stitch for an afternoon of fun, creativity, and history. Join us to stitch history together! America’s Tapestry is a nationwide community project featuring 13 hand-embroidered panels, one for each of the original colonies, depicting diverse stories from the American Revolution. Each panel is crafted by volunteers from New Hampshire to Georgia, and visitors are invited to contribute their own stitches to the Connecticut panel. All materials will be provided! While you're here, explore the museum’s holiday display and its permanent collection, which includes beautiful embroideries and period archives that bring the revolutionary era to life.
This holiday season, we will celebrate with Julia and Charlotte Isham in the 1950s and 60s as the Isham-Terry House is transformed into a mid-century delight! Enjoy colored trees, tons of tinsel, and starbursts galore during special tours of the house. Tours will be available on the hour, with the last tour at 3 pm.
May 4th marks the 200th birthday of Frederic Edwin Church. Not only was Hartford the birthplace of this renown Hudson River School painter, but the city was also integral to the birth of American art thanks to Daniel Wadsworth and his patronage. On this walk, we'll discuss Church and other Hartford-connected artists, such as Cole, Bierstadt, Wheeler, Tryon and more. Following the walk, the 2 pm tour of the Butler-McCook House will focus on the Butler and McCook families as art lovers.
Visit the Butler-McCook House & Garden, the only 18th-century home remaining on Hartford’s Main Street, for a guided tour to learn about the McCook family, who loved music, art, and travel through explorations of the museum’s collections which include paintings, Japanese samurai armor, furniture, and toys.