1897 Theodate Pope Riddle meets with Warren Manning to plan the site of Hill-Stead. 1898 Alfred Pope begins to purchase land in Farmington. He acquires 250 acres for his retirement home, and instructs Theodate to contact McKim, Mead & White to help develop her plan for the house and grounds. 1899-1901 Theodate designs and builds Hill-Stead using working drawings by Edgerton Swartout of McKim, Mead & White. Richard Jones of Farmington is the general contractor. June 16, 1901, the Popes spend their first night at Hill-Stead. Property includes main house, farmhouse, shepherd’s cottage, stables and garages, hay and dairy barns, pump house, sunken garden, wild garden, vegetable garden, tennis courts, six-hole golf grounds, orchards, meadows and woodlands. 1902 Theodate adds Mt. Vernon-inspired verandah, and two years later, a greenhouse and garage. 1906 Theodate works with McKim, Mead & White to add a second library and an office for her father. 1907 Theodate hosts annual meeting of the Connecticut Pomological Society and Dairymen’s Association. Hill-Stead’s farm is recognized as a model of outstanding agricultural practices. 1908 Fire destroys stable, laundry and butler’s residence. Theodate rebuilds immediately. 1913 Alfred Pope dies. 1915 Theodate survives the sinking of the Lusitania. 1916 Theodate and John Wallace Riddle marry. 1917 Theodate designs and builds the Makeshift Theater and furnishes it with graduated benches. She shows films on a silver screen and sponsors community meetings and parties. 1920 Ada Pope dies. Beatrix Jones Farrand designs planting plan for one-acre Sunken Garden. 1920 s Theodate’s Guernsey cow, Anesthesia’s Faith, sets world records for high butterfat milk yield. 1941 John Wallace Riddle dies. 1943 Earnest Bohlen, beloved butler to the Popes, dies. 1946 Theodate Pope Riddle dies. Her Last Will and Testament establishes Hill-Stead as a museum. 1947 Hill-Stead Museum opens to the public. 1986 Hill-Stead’s Sunken Garden is reclaimed with assistance from the Connecticut Valley Garden Club and the Garden Club of Hartford. 1991 Hill-Stead is designated a National Historic Landmark. 2001 Save America’s Treasures names Hill-Stead an “Official Project.” 2003 Hill-Stead is accredited by the American Association of Museums.