Palmer-Warner House
307 Town Street, East Haddam, CT 06423
palmer.warner@ctlandmarks.org
Hours
Open for tours May–October on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month from 1 pm–4 pm. Open every Saturday in June from 1–4 pm. Tours on the hour; last tour departs one hour before closing.
May 10 & 24, July 12 & 26, August 9 & 23, September 13 & 27, October 11 & 25
Admission
$16 / Adult
$12 / Senior, Student, or Teacher
$5 / Child 6-18
Free for Connecticut Landmarks Members & Children under 6
Due to limited technology infrastructure on-site, advance online payment or cash preferred.
House Tour
Experience the home Frederic Palmer and Howard Metzger made together in what they called “the wilds of Connecticut.” Learn about the collection of letters and diaries, photographs, historic furnishings, and decorative arts used to reconstruct their lives together. When weather permits, explore the grounds to see the constructed landscape Metzger and Palmer created.
The Palmer-Warner House will exhibit Letters of Unity from June-August 2025 during open hours. Admission is included with House Tour tickets. If you would like to visit the exhibit without touring the house, select “Letters of Unity Exhibit Admission” below.

Upcoming Tours
LEARN MORE
The Palmer-Warner House was built by John and Mehitable (Chapman Richardson) Warner in 1738 on 1,000 acres inherited by Mehitable. In later generations, the Warners became blacksmiths of local acclaim, and many of their pieces were collected by Frederic Palmer and now adorn the house.
In 1936, Frederic Palmer purchased the house and the 50 acres on which it currently sits with his mother, Mary Brennan Palmer. A preservation architect influenced by the Colonial Revival movement, he set about to restore the house and create a landscape that evoked the 18th century. Palmer was also a founding member of the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, Connecticut Landmarks’ predecessor organization. He assisted in the acquisition, preservation, and renovation of numerous CTL properties. He also played a major role in the renovation of the Goodspeed Opera House in the 1960s and the preservation work done at the First Congregational Church in East Haddam.
Frederic Palmer turned the Palmer-Warner House, which he lovingly called Dunstaffnage as a nod to his Scottish heritage, into a safe place for his LGBTQ friends, neighbors, and family to gather and enjoy life unhindered by societal norms. Palmer lived in the house with his partner Howard Metzger from the mid-1940s until his death in 1971. Metzger remained in the house until his death in 2005.
The story of Frederic Palmer and Howard Metzger is supported by a wealth of documentary evidence. CTL is fortunate to have diaries, letters, and photo albums that detail their daily lives. We also recently collected oral histories with East Haddam community members and the families of Palmer and Metzger. Through Palmer’s and Metzger’s lives, we are able to view the wider arc of 20th-century LGBTQ history. We seek to be a setting to share multiple viewpoints, and foster conversations around inclusion, individuality, privacy, and privilege.
COMING IN SUMMER 2025!
Letters of Unity: Building LGBTQ+ Community Through the Written Word is a new exhibit debuting this June that will celebrate the power of written communication in shaping LGBTQ+ identity, activism, and community. From love letters to zines and personal diaries to protest flyers, these artifacts tell the stories of resilience, connection, and creativity that have sustained LGBTQ+ communities across generations. Using the Palmer-Warner House’s collection and loaned items, this exhibit will weave together your stories with the stories of the house’s previous residents, Frederic Palmer and Howard Metzger, who created a safe space together in East Haddam.
Are you passionate about LGBTQ+ history and storytelling? Do you have letters, diaries, photographs, postcards, newspapers, magazines, audio recordings, or other personal accounts highlighting how written words have built and nurtured LGBTQ+ communities? Click here to learn how you can enrich this exhibit by loaning items for display!
