Inspiring Spaces: Hildene

If you enjoyed my post on Vermont the other day, click here if you missed it, I think you’ll LOVE today’s post. I don’t know about you but I love walking through old estates. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a love of old homes. It may be from my parent’s renovating an historic home in Andover when I was little and then completely restoring a colonial mansion into a restaurant. My heart is happy looking at old period details and woodwork and being in an old home I feel the happiness of those who once lived there. I’ve visited many old homes – in Rhode Island’s Newport and further afield in England and France. My little boys also love seeing old homes. Our family trip wouldn’t have been complete without a tour of an old estate. We visited Hildene. Have you ever heard of it?

In history class I learned about Lincoln but I didn’t know much about his son. Hildene is the home of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. This home is AMAZING. Georgian Revival in architecture, so much of it reminded me of England. The home was built in 1905 in Manchester, VT.

This is a view of the back of the home from the French style gardens.

It is amazing to me to think that Lincoln came from such humble beginnings to see where his son ended up. Robert was a success story in his own right and became Chairman of the Pullman Company. This home remained in the family until his daughter’s death in 1975. We had such a wonderful visit. The price was good value and we spent the whole day there. In fact, we didn’t have time to see everything but I thought I’d share my highlights.

The Kitchen Gardens

I loved how the window boxes had herbs and edible greenery and flowers.

Inside hydrangeas were drying, if you’d like my tips on hydrangeas click here.

I even caught a bee enjoying the sedum:

The beautiful hydrangea also caught my eye:

Interiors of Hildene

From the “simple” kitchen gardens we made our way to the home’s interior. It was beautiful and live-able, the furniture is the actual furniture of Robert’s family.

The dining room is beautiful (his portrait hanging above):

I mean look at all that detailing and the beautiful fireplace.

I LOVED the cabinets in the pantry:

The warm wood and the brass pulls and cabinet hardware all so beautiful.

We loved peeking into the kitchen and the bathroom.

I didn’t have my tripod so it was hard to take lots of interior shots, but I think you get the idea.

I also loved the office.

Many things you see nowadays try to replicate this look but just can’t. Look at those drawers and elegant lights!

I even loved the upstairs drawers. I thought they were so different for storing linens:

Also upstairs is a little museum honoring Abraham Lincoln. We loved seeing his handwritten words and his top hat! The boys loved that!

The Formal Gardens

I was ready to move in after seeing the interior but just wait for these gorgeous French style gardens. I mean doesn’t Luke look at home!

The views from the garden were breathe-taking.

There’s also an observatory, in case you want to stargaze!

Walking Trails

The grounds consist of many, many walking trails, in fact there is 412 acres so we didn’t even scratch the surface walking. We enjoyed walking through woods and meadows. We saw a salamander in the woods which I’d never seen before and also found some creatures in the pond (John found a giant water bug).

Goat Dairy

We spent so much time at the solar powered goat dairy and cheesemaking facility. I think you all know I’d love a goat but we just don’t have the right space for it. These were such cute goats.

There’s also a school house on the grounds but we didn’t make it to that as Conor’s legs were getting tired.

Pullman Car

The friends of Hildene restored a 1903 Pullman car, “Sunbeam” and it was quite amazing to see all the work and craft that went into it. I actually cried watching the video. I took a few photos of the railway car but they just didn’t do it justice, but you can see a beautiful photo here.

If you’re visiting Vermont we highly recommend a visit to this home. It’s full of history and amazing period details. We had a great time. Manchester center also has a fabulous book store and shopping.