Hildene

We visited the home of Robert Todd Lincoln yesterday in Manchester. He was the only surviving child of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln first came to Manchester and stayed at the Equinox in the middle 1860s with his mother. He came back for many summers and then Hildene was built in 1905. The name comes from a combination of the gaelic names for hill and valley.

Lincoln served the government in a couple of administrations in diplomatic and agency posts. But he made his fortune in the Pullman company. When he was at Hildene he did business with the company in Chicago by making daily dispatches on the train to Chicago. When Robert died in 1926 it passed through a couple of other members of the family until it was acquired by a trust who then restored the grounds. Unlike many other historic buildings about 90% of the furnishings of the house are authentic to the time when Lincoln lived there. We went on a formal tour - which was well worth the time - our guide, a retired news guy from NBC, had a wry sense of humor but was filled with facts about both the Lincoln family and the life and times of the house.

He told us about one of the last residents of the house, Peggy Lincoln Beckwith, who drove fast cars and flew planes in a time when few women did that. The diary entry on this page is from her role in christening the the USS Abraham Lincoln. Our guide told us about the real conflicts that the Lincoln descendents had with their legacy. Robert Lincoln would appear at Lincoln commemorations but would not speak. After a lot of prompting Peggy showed up for the christening but her note in the diary reflects the importance of the event to her.

The house has 412 acres around it. It overlooks the Battenkill valley which is absolutely stunning. We were there on a day when there was a bit of mist - it was beautiful. At the back of the house is a formal summer garden. There is one shot of the garden. The interior shot is of Robert Lincoln's study. It is very close to an ideal study for me - roomy, a bit formal and warm.
There are 95 more photos on my Flickr site. Hildene is a wonderful resource, if you are in Manchester, it is well worth the time. If you are not it is well worth the trip.