A very special Open Tour Day is scheduled for Sunday, September 8 at the Phelps-Hatheway House and Garden, 55 South Main Street. From 1-4 p.m., visitors are invited to step inside the museum’s interior to hear about the current efforts to stabilize the original 18th century wallpapers. In the Visitor’s Center, guests of all ages can try their hand at making their own wallpaper using decorative stamps and tempera paint. The Phelps-Hatheway staff will explain how our 1794 papers were created and how they will be preserved for future generations. Admission to the museum is $15/adults, $12/seniors, $5/children (6-18) and free to those under 6 and for all CTL members. The wallpaper activity in the Visitor’s Center will be held free of charge.
Connecticut Landmarks is honored to be a recipient of a Save America’s Treasures grant from the Historic Preservation Fund which will be used to stabilize and conserve the 18th-century Parisian wallpaper collection at the house.
While the wallpaper at the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden is in spectacular condition given its age; regular wear, light, and weather changes have impacted it over more than 200 years. We are glad to be able to take proactive steps to holistically care for the paper before it deteriorates. This project will allow us to work with experts from Studio TKM Associates to assess and document the condition of the paper, analyze key color and design elements for conservation, and stabilize the paper in place so that it will continue to be a resource for scholars and a treasure for visitors over the next two centuries and beyond. The full scope of expected work can be found in the RFP for conservation services, and we will continue to update as work progresses, as education is a key component of this project.
Connecticut Landmarks was one of 58 projects in 26 states, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia that was awarded Historic Preservation Fund support totaling $25.7 million from the National Park Service.
Established in 1977 and authorized at $150 million per year through 2023, the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations.
Administered by the NPS, Congress appropriates from the HPF to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources and history.
This fall, the Phelps-Hatheway House has exciting events in store, including a private house tour with the project’s conservators on Sunday, November 3 and a holiday lantern tour of Suffield’s South Main Street on December 14 and 15. For more information and to register, please visit us at: https://ctlandmarks.org/properties/phelps-hatheway-house-garden