Hearthside - The House That Love Built

HEARTHSIDE EVENTS

View the 2008 Events Calendar

Hearthside is the site of many different types of events throughout the year, which have a specific historical theme. Such events include a Traditional Afternoon Tea, Early American Crafts demonstrations, and Victorian Christmas Open House. Hearthside has also been the host of a field hospital for a Civil War Re-enactment on the neighboring Chase Farm property. See what some of our past events have been like, and be sure to watch the website for announcements of upcoming events.

Victorian Christmas Open House

Hearthside is a featured site during the Town of Lincoln's annual Festival of Lights celebration held the first weekend of December each year. Volunteers spend weeks Hearthside Hostsdecorating each room to transform the mansion back to a Christmas from more than 100 years ago. Visitors to Hearthside delight in the magic of a traditional Victorian Christmas as they enter the house, which was festooned with countless poinsettias, holly, laurel and spruce and many special personal touches brought in by the volunteers from their own holiday collections. An Open House is usually held on Sunday afternoon, followed by a candlelight tour in the early evening. The festive atmosphere is enhanced with the seasonal music by a harpist, homemade cookies, and a gift shop stocked with holiday gifts.  Click HERE for Photos!


Festival of Early American Trades

Hanaway Blacksmith ShopDemonstrations of forgotten crafts along with the aroma of home-made apple crisp takes place in the fall at Hearthside. Usually held on the first Saturday in October, visitors watch as craftspeople, dressed in period clothing, demonstrate quilting, basket making, spinning, embroidery, stained glass, use of herbs, gravestone etching, stenciling, rug hooking, and blacksmithing. A country stand provides hot cider on a crisp fall day, along with home-made apple crisp, apple pies, and breads. Demonstrations take place throughout the house as well as outdoors. Neighboring properties provided an opportunity for visitors to tour other significant historic sites, such as the Friends Meeting House, Eleazer Arnold House, and the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop. Click HERE for Photos!

Traditional Afternoon Tea

It's a return to the gentle splendor of a bygone era at Hearthside, with spring flowers, elegant hats, delicate lace, dainty teacups and fancy finger foods as Friends of Hearthside hosts its annual Traditional Afternoon Tea at the end of April each year. This event has become our most popular one, and always sells out so early ticket purchase is recommended.  A theme is featured each year, such as "the history of hats, the language of the fan, the language of flowers, the history of the parasol, etc.  Guests may be eligible for prizes for their hats and magnificent raffle baskets are also available.  Two seatings take place  and tickets must be purchased in advance by calling Hearthside at 401.726-0597.  Shopping at the Hearthside Gift Shop is always a treat where you can find lovely little luxuries at affordable prices, perfect for Mother's Day.  Click here for photos.

Civil War Re-enactment – Battle at Chase Farm and Field Hospital at Hearthside

Civil War Re-enactmentThe cannons thundered through the air, uniformed soldiers charged at each other while firing their guns, and in the end, bloodied bodies were littered among the countryside “battlefields” of Chase Farm Park. This was the reoccurring theme during the last weekend of September 2002, as the Town hosted the Civil War Re-enactment once again. But this re-enactment had a special feature that has not been done elsewhere in New England. For the first time, a historic home, in this case Hearthside, was used as part of the re-enactment and turned into a field hospital by the soldiers. Staffed by actual medics from the National Guard, Hearthside was transformed from its beautiful, serene presence along Great Road to become the chaotic scene of men screaming in agonizing pain, blood spilling forth from the many “surgeries and amputations”, and women trying to calm and soothe the frightened soldiers.

The re-enactment included volunteers from Friends of Hearthside who portrayed the George Barnes family, who actually lived at Hearthside in 1863, when this mock battle was fought. After setting up camp on Friday evening, the soldiers knocked at the front door of Hearthside and demanded that the family leave the premises, as the army was now in charge of the house. The Barnes family took their belonging and moved upstairs, just as it would’ve happened during the Civil War. This signature event for Hearthside brought over 3,000 visitors to the house, and some 400 re-enactors from all over New England participated in this living history event. A commemorative medallion key ring was produced especially for this event, and is still available in the Hearthside Gift Shop for $4.00. The attractive gold coin features an etching of Hearthside on one side and a group of soldiers on the reverse side, entitled Chase Farm 2002. The next scheduled Civil War Re-enactment will take place the first weekend of June 2005.  Click HERE for Photos!

Spirited Evenings at Hearthside

Everyone who visits an old house invariably asks the question “Is the house haunted?” Some have hinted that they have experienced strange feelings in one room or another, or heard noises while in the house alone. Since there has been such interest in exploring this question and learning more about the “other side,” we decided to invite a well known medium to visit Hearthside. On a cold, rainy February night in 2003, Carole Lynne, one of the most popular psychic mediums in New England, conducted a demonstration before a sold-out audience.  Learn more!

Open House

Frequent Open Houses at Hearthside often include an opportunity for visitors to also experience other historic properties along Great Road. These Arnold Houseopportunities allow visitors to travel back in time from 1687 at the Eleazer Arnold House, to 1694 at the Valentine Whitman House, 1703 Quaker Meeting House, to 1810 at Hearthside, and 1895 at the Hannaway Blacksmith Shop, where live blacksmith demonstrations take place. While the Open Houses are free to the public, donations are welcomed.

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