Giving Tuesday 2023

Giving Tuesday is a global movement which unleashes the power of radical generosity–a day that encourages hundreds of millions of people to collaborate in support of worthy causes.

For the second year in a row, this Giving Tuesday (November 28), the Hill-Stead Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art are joining forces to collectively raise funds for our museums. With one click, you can support all three museums with a gift of any size, which will be split equally and acknowledged by all three museums.

The decision to collaborate, rather than compete with one another – rare in the world of fundraising – was highlighted in the Hartford Courant last year.  Subscribers can click here to read more about our newsworthy collaboration.

We would be so grateful if you would consider including the arts in your holiday giving this year. We know how difficult it can be to choose among the many worthy arts organizations in the region, but your gift today will help all three of us continue to provide world-class art to our communities throughout Connecticut.

Thank you for your support and wonderful generosity, which helps keep our museums alive and thriving!

DONATE NOW

 

“The Tub” Featured in The Washington Post

Degas’ pastel The Tub is included in “Great Works, In Focus,” a series in the Washington Post featuring art critic Sebastian Smee’s favorite works in permanent collections around the United States

[The Tub] by Edgar Degas in the collection of the Hill-Stead Museum, a little-known museum in Farmington, Conn., is one of my favorite works in any American collection. At the most basic level, it is just a wonder to me that one human would respond to another by making something like this.Sebastian Smee
The Tub, Edgar Degas

Photo by Anne Day

Read the article in the Washington Post

Great Works in Focus, Sebastian Smee (Washington Post, November 17, 2021)

100 Great Works, In Focus, Sebastian Smee (Washington Post, February 22, 2022)


Visit Our Collection to learn more about Hill-Stead’s exceptional collection, including Impressionist masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler & Cassatt; Japanese woodblock prints; and decorative arts that reflect the Pope family’s travels

 

Hill-Stead Weekday Hours

Visit Hill-Stead!

Visit Hill-Stead!

Daily Tours

  • The 1901 Pope Riddle house and its period rooms are open for guided tours only.
  • Guided tours of the Pope Riddle House are offered Wednesday through Sunday, every hour on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm with the last tour at 3 pm;  closed major holidays (Easter Sunday, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day).
  • Tickets may be purchased at the museum on a first-come, first-serve basis; no more than 16 people per tour.
  • Hill-Stead also offers Exclusive Private Tours on select Saturdays.
  • Hill-Stead’s grounds are open to the public daily from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. for group of eight or more please contact Karen Hudkins to make an advance reservation. Dogs are welcome at Hill-Stead. Please note: They must wear a leash and stay under their owner’s control at all times.
  • To keep our Museum accessible to all, Hill-Stead Museum offers  AAA, Blue Star Museums, Museums for All, and Connecticut Art Trail Benefits.
  • Museum members are always free Not a member? Join now.
  • Hill-Stead welcomes groups of 10 or more with advance reservations. For more information, see Group Tours.
  • Hill-Stead now offers both in-person and online field trips.  BOOK NOW
  • Visitors will be required to lock their bags and personal belongings in the lockers located in the visitor center, or alternatively, to store them in their car during the visit/tour of the historic house and/or art gallery.
  • Please review our reopening plan

Admission

To keep our museum accessible to all, Hill-Stead participates in the Blue Star Museums, Museums for All, AAA and Connecticut Art Trail programs.

Museum Members are always free.  Not a Member?  JOIN NOW

Members  | FREE
Adults | $18
AAA & Seniors (62+) | $16
Students | $12
Children 6-12 | $10
Children under 6 | FREE

Museum Members are always FREE!
Not a Member?  JOIN NOW

Special Admission Programs

As a Blue Star Museum, Hill-Stead offers active-duty military families FREE admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums across America.

Hill-Stead is a part of the Museums for All program and offers FREE admission for up to four people to with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Museums for All is a cooperative initiative between Association of Children’s Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services to offer a program that encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits.

Hill-Stead is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail.  Discover Connecticut’s artistic treasures with the Connecticut Art Trail Art Passport. The $25 Art Passport includes one admission to each of the 20 member museums per year. Explore diverse, quality collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture.

 

The safety of staff and visitors is our highest priority.

To ensure a safe, inspiring experience for all, we’ve adopted new health and safety protocols. You’ll find everything you need to know about your next visit below.

Social distancing best practices are in place. All persons entering the building will be required to wear a face mask covering at all times.

  • Always wear a facemask and make sure it fits over your nose and mouth
  • Practice safe social distancing. Please keep six feet between yourself and others (outside your party)
  • Please wash/sanitize your hands at our sanitizing stations
  • A limited number of visitors will be permitted at one time
  • A one-way flow of traffic will be required in the House
  • Contactless payment is available and encouraged
  • Please let us know if you or another member of your party have traveled outside of Connecticut in the past 14 days or​ experiencing fever, chills, cough, or any other symptoms

Hill-Stead’s grounds

National Historic Landmark Designation

Hill-Stead Receives Site-Wide National Historic Landmark Designation

Hill-Stead Museum and its entire 152-acre campus, encompassing nine built structures and landscape features, was approved by the Secretary of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark on January 13, 2021.  The Museum’s 1901 historic house has held the distinction since 1991.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, Hill-Stead, best known for its world-class art and architecture, was among ten sites across the country added to the list. All received recognition as “historic properties of exceptional value to the nation.”

To be listed in the register, a property has to be at least 50 years old and meet at least one of the following criteria: significance in architecture; association with a person of importance; archaeological potential; or significant events in its history. History is a broad area of significance with many categories, including education and conservation.

“Hill-Stead is humbled and honored to be among these ten designated landmarks. Each reveals significant stories of our nation’s diverse heritage through art, architecture, and community,” says Dr. Anna Swinbourne, Hill-Stead’s Executive Director and CEO.


Video courtesy of Lev Verbitsky

One of the nation’s few remaining representations of early-20th-century country estates, Hill-Stead was the first architectural project of founder Theodate Pope Riddle (1867–1946), one of the first licensed female architects in the U.S., and an early proponent of historic preservation. She designed it for her parents, and the Colonial Revival mansion welcomed members of the Roosevelt Family, Mary Cassatt, and Henry James, who wrote in his 1907 book The American Scene that it was: “…. a great new house on a hilltop that overlooked the most composed of communities; a house apparently conceived—and with great felicity—on the lines of a magnified Mount Vernon.” She went on to design Westover School and Avon Old Farms School and rehabilitate Theodore Roosevelt’s Gramercy Park birthplace.

A lover of the natural world, Theodate Pope Riddle’s project started with the land, resulting in an 1898 farm complex inspired by her early experiences traveling with her parents on a Grand Tour of Europe from 1888-1889. During this time, she developed a deep empathy for animals, and a mere decade later, she would fulfill her dreams of creating an innovative working farm at Hill-Stead.

Today, Hill-Stead has brought together a community of over a million visitors since opening to the public in 1947. It continues to innovate as a beacon of creativity with live outdoor art performances, educational offerings, and public and private events.

The beloved house on the hill provides a rare opportunity to be surrounded by world-renowned art while enjoying the expansive estate—an outdoor masterpiece itself. Unique features include a Beatrix Farrand-designed sunken garden, stunning vistas, walking trails, woodlands, and meadows with sheep.

Morning Room

More inviting and intimate than the typical Museum, Hill-Stead gives its visitors a close-up, personal view of renowned masterpieces, textiles, and decorative arts in situ. The impressive artworks live in an intimate domestic setting, as intended by Impressionist artists of the period, who created works to be lived with, and that would enliven any interior. A treasure trove for Impressionist lovers, Hill-Stead’s holdings include paintings by Manet, Monet, Degas, Whistler, and Cassatt that rival artwork found in the world’s major art institutions. One of three museums in the nation with two examples of Monet’s Haystacks, Hill-Stead’s collection includes the artist’s stunning seascapes, an early scene of northern France, and an arresting Mediterranean view.<

The 1901 house and its period rooms are open for guided tours only Thursday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm. The grounds are open to the public daily from 7:30 am–5:30 pm.

Construction update – December 1, 2020

Inside, outside, everywhere you look

The holidays aren’t slowing down our construction project at Hill-Stead—the past two weeks have been busy, noisy, dusty, and at times, a little smelly!

Woodworkers and painters are repairing the siding and trim along large swaths of the exterior. At the same time, the infrastructure and piping for sufficient basement drainage are being laid underneath the area known as the kitchen garden.

What is less visible to our visitors is the interior work, including the new, upgraded, and ADA-compliant restrooms. (We are very proud that our plans include more than double the number of bathrooms required by code.) For a central bank – of men, women, and family rooms – in the structure’s northwest corner, the new walls and plumbing have been put in place, and the ductwork is currently being installed.

Continue reading

In Honor of Veteran’s Day

We salute those who served!

We invite our Veterans to join us for a complimentary House Tour this weekend.

Please inform us upon arrival.  See additional tour information and hours below.


Additional Tour Information

Celebrate the season at Hill-Stead with The Nutcracker Reimagined brought to us by Ballet Theatre Company. Enjoy a costume exhibition, dance performances, and special events.

Special Holiday Tours of Through the Tulle will take place on  Saturdays & Sundays from 1 to 5 pm, between November 28 – December 20.
Tickets for these tours must be purchased in advance. Learn more

Our Public Tours and Exclusive Private Tours continue at other times.

Daily Tours

  • House tours take place Thursdays through Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm Learn more
  • Hill-Stead Guides lead tours on the hour—the last tour begins at 3 pm
  • Tours are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis
  • There may be no more than 10 people per tour
  • Tickets should be purchased upon arrival
  • Hill-Stead also offers Exclusive Private Tours with our curator by appointment
  • Hill-Stead’s gorgeous grounds and garden remain open to the public daily from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm
  • Hill-Stead is also hosting From the Porch, a performing arts series; and an afterschool workshop series—all of which are open to the public
  • Hill-Stead is now open for both in-person and online field trips.  Book yours now!
  • Please review Hill-Stead’s extensive safety measures to keep its visitors safe via the reopening plan

reopening plan


Admission

Members  | FREE
Adults | $18
AAA & Seniors (62+) | $16
Students | $12
Children 6-12 | $10
Children under 6 | FREE

Museum Members are always FREE!
Not a Member?  JOIN NOW

We recommend that all visitors make reservations in advance
RESERVE TICKETS

Special Admission Programs

As a Blue Star Museum, Hill-Stead offers active-duty military families FREE admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums across America.

Hill-Stead is a part of the Museums for All program and offers FREE admission for up to four people to with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Museums for All is a cooperative initiative between Association of Children’s Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services to offer a signature access program that encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits.

Hill-Stead is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail.  Discover Connecticut’s artistic treasures with the Connecticut Art Trail Art Passport. The $25 Art Passport includes one admission to each of the 20 member museums per year. Explore diverse, quality collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture.

Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.

The safety of staff and visitors is our highest priority.

To ensure a safe, inspiring experience for all, we’ve adopted new health and safety protocols. You’ll find everything you need to know about your next visit below.

Social distancing best practices are in place. All persons entering the building will be required to wear a face mask covering at all times.

  • Always wear a facemask and make sure it fits over your nose and mouth
  • Practice safe social distancing. Please keep six feet between yourself and others (outside your party)
  • Please wash/sanitize your hands at our sanitizing stations
  • A limited number of visitors will be permitted at one time
  • A one-way flow of traffic will be required in the House
  • Contactless payment is available and encouraged
  • Please let us know if you or another member of your party have traveled outside of Connecticut in the past 14 days or​ experiencing fever, chills, cough, or any other symptoms
Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.

Enjoy The Nutcracker Reimagined brought to us by Ballet Theatre Company including a costume exhibition, dance performances and special events.
Public tours
and Exclusive Private Tours continue. Please review Hill-Stead’s extensive measures to keep its visitors safe via the reopening plan reopening plan

Construction update – November 10, 2020

Watching the progress on our construction this past week was nothing short of amazing! The symbiosis of destruction and creation continues to work its magic.

Down came the kitchen and the interior modifications made years ago, namely to install visitor bathrooms near the Makeshift Theater, which resulted in a massive pile of rubble, seen in this photograph below. (From this pile, we extracted and saved beams of the original wooden structure, which we plan to cut and craft into souvenirs for faithful donors and supporters.)

Continue reading

Celebrate the Season at Hill-Stead!

We are thrilled to open our doors once again for the public.

Celebrate the season at Hill-Stead with Through the Tulle a special costume exhibition brought to us by Ballet Theatre Company, during out Daily House Tours through January 10

Daily Tours

  • Visits to the house are by guided tour only and take place Thursdays through Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm Learn more
  • Hill-Stead Guides lead tours on the hour—the last tour begins 3 pm
  • Tours are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis
  • There may be no more than 16 people per tour
  • Tickets should be purchased upon arrival
  • Hill-Stead also offers Exclusive Private Tours with our curator by appointment
  • Hill-Stead’s gorgeous grounds and garden remain open to the public daily from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm
  • Hill-Stead is now open for both in-person and online field trips.  Book yours now!
  • Please review Hill-Stead’s extensive safety measures to keep its visitors safe via the reopening plan

Admission

Members  | FREE
Adults | $18
AAA & Seniors (62+) | $16
Students | $12
Children 6-12 | $10
Children under 6 | FREE

Museum Members are always FREE!
Not a Member?  JOIN NOW

We recommend that all visitors make reservations in advance
RESERVE TICKETS

Special Admission Programs

As a Blue Star Museum, Hill-Stead offers active-duty military families FREE admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums across America.

Hill-Stead is a part of the Museums for All program and offers FREE admission for up to four people to with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Museums for All is a cooperative initiative between Association of Children’s Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services to offer a signature access program that encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits.

Hill-Stead is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail.  Discover Connecticut’s artistic treasures with the Connecticut Art Trail Art Passport. The $25 Art Passport includes one admission to each of the 20 member museums per year. Explore diverse, quality collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture.

Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.
  • Due to construction, we only have portable bathrooms available to the public onsite.

The safety of staff and visitors is our highest priority.

To ensure a safe, inspiring experience for all, we’ve adopted new health and safety protocols. You’ll find everything you need to know about your next visit below.

Social distancing best practices are in place. All persons entering the building will be required to wear a face mask covering at all times.

  • Always wear a facemask and make sure it fits over your nose and mouth
  • Practice safe social distancing. Please keep six feet between yourself and others (outside your party)
  • Please wash/sanitize your hands at our sanitizing stations
  • A limited number of visitors will be permitted at one time
  • A one-way flow of traffic will be required in the House
  • Contactless payment is available and encouraged
  • Please let us know if you or another member of your party have traveled outside of Connecticut in the past 14 days or​ experiencing fever, chills, cough, or any other symptoms
Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.
  • The Museum Shop is closed.

Hill-Stead will be closed to the general public on October 31

SOLD OUT – Halloween on the Hill
October 31, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Please note, Hill-Stead will be open to Halloween on the Hill ticket holder only on October 31.

Daily Tours

  • House tours take place Thursdays through Sundays from 10 am to 4 pm More info
  • Hill-Stead Guides lead tours on the hour—the last tour begins 3 pm
  • Tours are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis
  • There may be no more than 10 people per tour
  • Tickets should be purchased upon arrival
  • Hill-Stead also offers Exclusive Private Tours with our curator by appointment
  • Hill-Stead’s gorgeous grounds and garden remain open to the public daily from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm
  • Hill-Stead is also hosting From the Porch, a performing arts series; and an afterschool workshop series—all of which are open to the public
  • Hill-Stead is now open for both in-person and online field trips.  Book yours now!
  • Please review our reopening plan

Admission

Members  | FREE
Adults | $18
AAA & Seniors (62+) | $16
Students | $12
Children 6-12 | $10
Children under 6 | FREE

Museum Members are always FREE!
Not a Member?  JOIN NOW

We recommend that all visitors make reservations in advance
RESERVE TICKETS

Special Admission Programs

As a Blue Star Museum, Hill-Stead offers active-duty military families FREE admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day.  Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and museums across America.

Hill-Stead is a part of the Museums for All program and offers FREE admission for up to four people to with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Museums for All is a cooperative initiative between Association of Children’s Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services to offer a signature access program that encourages families of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum habits.

Hill-Stead is a member of the Connecticut Art Trail.  Discover Connecticut’s artistic treasures with the Connecticut Art Trail Art Passport. The $25 Art Passport includes one admission to each of the 20 member museums per year. Explore diverse, quality collections rich in history and heritage, including European masterpieces, American Impressionism, ancient art and contemporary culture.

Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.

The safety of staff and visitors is our highest priority.

To ensure a safe, inspiring experience for all, we’ve adopted new health and safety protocols. You’ll find everything you need to know about your next visit below.

Social distancing best practices are in place. All persons entering the building will be required to wear a face mask covering at all times.

  • Always wear a facemask and make sure it fits over your nose and mouth
  • Practice safe social distancing. Please keep six feet between yourself and others (outside your party)
  • Please wash/sanitize your hands at our sanitizing stations
  • A limited number of visitors will be permitted at one time
  • A one-way flow of traffic will be required in the House
  • Contactless payment is available and encouraged
  • Please let us know if you or another member of your party have traveled outside of Connecticut in the past 14 days or​ experiencing fever, chills, cough, or any other symptoms
Please note: 
  •  There are no self-paced tours at this time.
  • There are no school group visits at this time.