Butler-McCook House - Hartford, CT

The Butler-McCook House is nestled on Main Street in Hartford where it’s been since 1782. Four generations of one family lived here, 189 years, watching the neighborhood around it change in an astounding evolution.

The house and garden are now open to the public under the auspices of the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society. The family of industrialists, physicians, missionaries, artists and educators have left the modern visitor a peek into Colonial to mid-20th Century American life in furnishings, paintings, Victorian-era toys and objects.

All around, Main Street bustles with 21st century urban havoc in automobile traffic, towering buildings, cell phones and BlackBerrys and iPods, while inside the grounds, inside the old house so well preserved lies a world we might have forgotten.

Have a look here and here for more on the Butler-McCook House, and have a look here for a fascinating detailed article on the history of the house and the family by Beverly Johnson Lucas.