Lincoln Family Home at Hildene: Vermont estate of Robert Lincoln marks another BTS presidential-adjacent visit!

Lincoln Family Home at Hildene, summer home of Robert and Mary Lincoln, a mere 8,000 square feet

Although the Lincoln Family Home at Hildene, located in Manchester, Vermont, does not qualify for our BTS list of presidential homes and/or libraries, it's about as "presidential-adjacent" as one can get and truly a worthwhile visit.

Hildene was built by Robert Lincoln who was not only the son of the 16th president, but served in the cabinet of both Presidents Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.  That's a fortified one-degree from POTUS. 

Robert Lincoln's library

The grand foyer

Hildene was built in 1905 as the summer home of Robert Lincoln - the only child of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd to survive into adulthood - and his wife, Mary Harlan Lincoln. They "downsized" from their former estate in Chicago to the mere 8,000 square-foot home of Hildene.

The bedroom of Robert Lincoln's wife, Mary. (and, yes, I would like to have a room like this).

The interior is impressive, and guests can view the family's spaces as well as the staff quarters. The former includes Robert Lincoln's library, the dining room, which houses the Minton china the Lincoln's purchased in the early 1880's, Mary's bedroom and the grand foyer. Throughout the home , family pictures and cherished belongings are on display. A special exhibit room showcases more historic artifacts with one of Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hats proudly on display.

Hildene dining room houses the Minton china purchased by the Lincoln family

Along with the Georgian revival home/mansion, there are several other areas on the now 412 acre estate to explore. Guests can visit the formal gardens and observatory, a Pullman car (Robert Lincoln was also, for a time, president of the Pullman Company), the visitors center, and, of course, the gift shop where I purchased a pack of "Historic Peony Seeds".  These seeds are propagated from the peonies originally planted by Jessie Lincoln, daughter of Robert and Mary Lincoln, as a gift to her mother. (We just planted these heirloom seeds at our tea garden at Pemberly Pines. We'll update next spring!)

Hildene heirloom peony seeds

From peonies given to Mary by her daughter

Historic addition to Pemberly Pines tea garden. We'll check back in the spring.

Another worthwhile spot to visit is a small brick-lined border in front of the Hildene home that outlines the size of the Kentucky cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born. It shows just how far the Lincoln family had come in only a generation.

Brick border in front of Hildene shows the size of the cabin where Abe Lincoln was born. 

As noted on the Lincoln Family Home at Hildene's website, Peggy Beckwith, Abraham Lincoln’s great-granddaughter was the last Lincoln descendant to live at the Vermont homestead. She left the estate to the Church of Christ, Scientist in accordance with her grandmother's wishes, but the Church soon realized they were not in a position to be the caretaker of this historic home.  They planned to sell Hildene to developers, but when local neighbors and community members learned of the Church's plans, they fought to save it, eventually winning right to purchase Hildene. The non-profit Friends of Hildene purchased the estate in 1978 and began the long process of restoring the home and formal garden.

Robert Lincoln's observatory

President Lincoln's stovepipe hat

We truly enjoyed touring Hildene and special thanks, to Pam B. (BTS team member/birthday twin) for recommending this historic estate visit as well as fav NY-er, Jenna, for her suggestion for another stop in the future. Jenna visited many times with family during the holiday season and says the lighted pathway to Hildene in November/December months adds a festive touch to the Lincoln homestead.

We're thinking, we may need to create another list: presidential-adjacent sites to visit (and revisit!). 😉

A visit to Calvin Coolidge's Vermont home: Another "notch" on our presidential landmark scorecard!

 

Plymouth Notch, birthplace of Calvin Cooldge, marks our 8th presidential home visit!

In our quest to visit as many of the presidential homes and/or libraries as we can, this past July we scored another hit on our long list at Plymouth Notch, Vermont, birthplace of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. 

Although this was not specifically earmarked as our next presidential site stop, it was conveniently located on the path of the second leg of our two-week journey, traveling northeast to Montreal, then back to Michigan via Vermont. It also proved to be an excellent follow up to our last POTUS home trek in April.  That was the home of Warren G. Harding, in Findlay, Ohio (see blog story: Warren G. Harding Home and Library), the President who Coolidge not only served as Vice President, but became his immediate successor after Harding's sudden death. 

In fact, it was at Plymouth Notch, a scenic, rural village in central Vermont, where, Coolidge, while visiting his family homestead, received the news of Harding's death. He was given the oath of office by his father, a notary public, at 2:47 A.M. on August 3, 1923. And, as the story goes, after being sworn in, Coolidge, known for being quiet and reserved, calmly went back upstairs to bed.

Outside the Coolidge Museum in Vermont in July

While we found no evidence of Calvin Coolidge's favorite tea, we did see on display in the Plymouth Notch museum, a tea set from 1927 that was used by the Coolidge family in the White House.

In addition, we did learn of a drink that bears the Coolidge name. It was created for the Republican Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio to generate some excitement. Coolidge was his party's nominee in 1924, but the convention was reportedly so dull, that many of the delegates began to leave. Will Rogers, famous humorist of the time, was noted as saying they should open up the churches in Cleveland to liven things up. 

A 1927 tea service, on display in the museum, was used by the Coolidge family at the White House

Enter the "Keep Cool with Coolidge Highball", a drink made up of raw eggs and fruit juices. It doesn't seem to have gained any traction (and we're grateful for that).

Chris outside the Coolidge Homestead.

While the cool concoction may not stood the test of the time, Plymouth Notch certainly has. It is well worth the drive to this out-of-the-way spot (although, many of Vermont destinations seem to share that description). 

The school room and. . . 

 the church the Coolidge attended.

Plymouth Notch is comprised of the homes of the Coolidge family, their relatives and friends as well as church, a school house, cheese factory and a pre-1835 store with a post office on the first floor and dance hall on the second. The latter later served as Coolidge's "Summer White House Office". 

General store owned by Coolidge's father

Birthplace of Calvin Coolidge

The home where Coolidge was born in 1872, is attached to the store where his father started as storekeeper in 1868 and, in partnership with his brother-in-law, purchased seven years later. 

When Calvin Coolidge was four years old, his family moved across the road to the abode that is now referred to as the Coolidge Homestead, a bit grander and more comfortable than the president's modest birthplace.

Plymouth Notch has been maintained to keep its 18th-century and early 19th-century roots, allowing guests to experience the charm and significance of this historic site. 

This now marks our ninth presidential home/library visit for eight different presidents. Since our primary goal is to mark off at least one site for each president, we could say we only have 37 or so more to go.  A lofty ambition but, always interesting journey, we're charting more for the near future. But, if you are traveling out east, we'd highly recommend a stop at Plymouth Notch. And, while the gift shop does not sell fruit drinks combined with raw eggs, they do sell Maple Tea and along with Calvin Coolidge presidential mugs, both of which we purchased. 

For more on our visit to Plymouth Notch and other Vermont sites, visit us at our YouTube Channel: 

Barb's Tea Service - YouTube and see BTS Podcast 16!