Hildene: Lincoln’s Home
The final presentation about Abraham Lincoln took place on Tuesday, Mar. 5.
This presentation was titled “Lincoln’s Other Address: Making over the Hildene Farm in Manchester, Vermont.”
Unlike the previous presentations that focused on Lincoln, the Civil War, and the Constitution, this presentation focused on Abraham Lincoln’s descendants and their family farm.
The speaker, Mark Wesner, previously lived in Troy for two years. He worked in architecture firms in Albany and Troy. Today he is part of Keefe & Wesner Architects, located in North Bennington, Vermont.
His architecture firm has worked with the Hildene for the past few years, restoring and rebuilding different parts of the estate.
Hildene was the home of Abraham Lincoln’s only son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Today it is a house museum.
After being owned and maintained by only the Lincoln descendants until 1975, the Board of Trustees maintained the home. Their goal was to put values and actions into the home.
The estate consists of many different buildings, such as the Georgian Revival Mansion, the Annex, the Observatory, the Welcome Center, etc.
The main attraction of Hildene is the mansion. The mansion is about 5,000 square feet per floor. Robert Todd Lincoln built his Georgian Revival mansion in the year 1905 and it is located in the village of Manchester.
Since the mansion sits on a cliff, the view of the valley and the garden in back makes the Hildene a popular destination for weddings, parties, and other celebrations.
Next door to the mansion is the annex. In Lincoln’s time, this was used as the cafeteria. A lot of food was made here and some of the workers for Robert Lincoln slept here. Wesner’s architect firm plans on turning this annex into a kitchen.
The Carriage house, which is now called the Welcome Center, is located near the mansion. In the past, this building was used to clean carriages and keep the horses that people had used.
Over the years, this building has transformed into a space with bathrooms, office space, and conference rooms. There is also an electric train that runs across the ceiling.
This building has heating and air conditioning. All the wood that is used to heat buildings within the property is from the Hildene forest.
“Hildene is not just about the buildings themselves, educational classes are offered to children and young adults,” said Wesner.
The purpose of these classes is to educate young people in agriculture and the natural world. All of the studies are generated by Lincoln’s ideas.
While visiting the Hildene, people can go on guided tours through the estate, shop for different gifts in the welcome center, read through the library, take an agricultural course, or visit the Pullman car outside.
“This is a very unique and powerful experience to see and enjoy the things that have been restored and reused for the modern public,” said Wesner.
The Hildene is open all year around. It is a nonprofit organization and it raises all its money on its own. It is located at 1005 Hildene Road, Manchester, Vermont.
For more information, contact (802) 362-1788, or visit www.hildene.org.