Tel: 203.245.4567 Email: contact@madisonhistory.org

Events

Connecticut Open House Day

Saturday / June 10 / 11 am – 3 pm
Allis-Bushnell House
853 Boston Post Road

The MHS welcomes visitors to its historic house museum, the Allis-Bushnell House on Saturday, June 10, from 11 am to 3 pm as part of Connecticut Open House Day, an annual event held on the second Saturday of June. Open House Day is a state-wide effort to inspire Connecticut residents to learn about all the experiences available in their own backyards and many museums, historical sites, and cultural institutions offer free admission on this special day.

On Open House Day, visitors can tour the downstairs rooms, which are curated to represent five distinct periods in Madison’s history.  In the colonial kitchen, knowledgeable guides will tell the story of Abigail Meigs who organized a spinning party in 1769 to protest British taxes on such goods as tea and textiles.  In the dining room, docents talk about Captain Frederick Lee who, in May 1826, hosted a party celebrating the establishment of the newly named town of Madison.

The tour continues to the year 1842 when an abolitionist meeting is known to have taken place at the house when it was owned by Nathan and Chloe Bushnell.  In the Victorian parlor, guides will describe fourteen-year-old Emilie Ely, who wrote passionately to her sister about Madison’s Civil War draft in 1862.  The final stop on the tour is the 1920 Tea Room, designed to evoke the spirit of Susan Josephine Hart on the day the women of Madison learned that they had won the right to vote.

Visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy the guided tour or simply wander through the house’s first-floor rooms at their leisure.  A scavenger hunt for historic objects related to the historical periods highlighted on the tour will provide entertainment to all who attend. Light refreshments will be served.

No advance registration is required and admission is free. For more information, visit madisonhistory.org or call 203-245-4567.

 

The Allis-Bushnell House

The Allis-Bushnell House was once home to Madison’s prominent Bushnell and Scranton families. Built in 1785, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Visitors to the Allis-Bushnell House can experience five historic days that unfolded within its rooms or in homes nearby.

The home’s lower-level rooms, each with distinct period architectural features, are decorated with period furniture, domestic implements, decorative arts, and paintings that illustrate how life was lived in Madison in five time periods from colonial days through the 1920s.

Each of these scenic “sets” is complemented by stories, shared by our guides, of life in the house as it was during colonial days, the Revolutionary War period, the Civil War period, and the Colonial Revival era.

The House is opened on occasion throughout the year for special events, talks, and exhibits. Public tours are given on CT Open House Day in early June and on the fourth Saturday in November, following Thanksgiving. Be sure to check our calendar for details.

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  • ABHouse-dining-room
  • AB-House_Victorian-parlor
  • Allis_Bushnell House circa 1785
  • Hallway-looking-onto-the-Post-Road