Hartford's oldest house, this Connecticut Landmark was home to four generations of Butlers and McCooks. It is one of the best-documented houses in America. 

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. 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. Behind the property is a restored Victorian ornamental garden, originally laid out in 1865 by landscape pioneer Jacob Weidenmann. 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 artisan shops into a modern urban enclave of multi-story steel, brick, and stone structures housing major financial, industrial, governmental, and cultural institutions.

Tour time: 60 minutes

Other amenities: Dining Nearby, Gift Shop, Parking