Butler McCook House & Garden

For 189 years the Butler-McCook House & Garden was home to four generations of a family who participated in, witnessed, and recorded the evolution of Main Street between the American Revolution and the mid-twentieth century. The house’s exterior looks much as it did when it was built in 1782. Behind the property is a restored Victorian ornamental garden, originally laid out in 1865. Inside are the original furnishings ranging from Connecticut-crafted colonial furniture to Victorian-era toys and paintings to samurai armor acquired during a trip to Japan. The objects were accumulated over the course of almost two centuries by members of this extraordinary clan, which included physicians, industrialists, missionaries, artists, globetrotters and pioneering educators and social reformers.

The Main Street History Center’s keystone exhibition, “Witnesses on Main Street,” uses the Butler and McCook families’ words and experiences to chronicle their neighborhood’s transformation from a clutch of clapboard dwellings, taverns, and artisans shops into a modern urban enclave of multi-story steel, brick, and stone structures housing major financial, industrial, governmental, and cultural institutions.

To visit the Butler-McCook House & Garden:

Open for tours May through December on the 2nd Thursday of the month from 1 – 4 pm, for public programs, & by appointment with at least 7 days advanced notice by contacting 860.247.8996 x 11, or butler.mccook@ctlandmarks.org.

About Connecticut Landmarks:

Founded in 1936 as the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society, we are a state-wide network of eleven significant historic properties that span four centuries of New England history. Our museums are starting points, “landmarks in every sense,” for deeper exploration and greater appreciation of the Connecticut experience. We have something for everyone: from captivating house tours to lovely historic gardens, history celebrations and remarkable collections of art and antiques. Our real-life stories, as told through our collections, make history matter.

The historic, landmark properties span four centuries of Connecticut history and include: the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden, Bethlehem; the Butler-McCook House & Garden and Main Street History Center, Hartford; the Buttolph-Williams House, Wethersfield; the Amasa Day House, Moodus; the Hempsted Houses, New London; the Isham-Terry House, Hartford; the Nathan Hale Homestead, Coventry; the Palmer-Warner House, East Haddam; and the Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden, Suffield.