Greater Hartford and the Mystic area offer a number of cultural diversions for groups, including a variety of historic homes/museums that showcase everything from classic literature to impressionist art.
The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford was the home of Samuel and Olivia “Livy” Clemens, designed by New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter. Sam, better known as Mark Twain, completed some of his most famous books in the home, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Webster Bank Museum Center offers a number of venues for groups of up to 250.
The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme is a National Historic Landmark property that was once the home of Florence Griswold, a local woman who fell on hard times and rented out her home to boarders for $7 a week. Henry Ward Ranger was one of her tenants, a painter who established the Old Lyme Art Colony at the house in 1899, which launched the American Impressionism movement. The museum, which is located on the banks of the Lieutenant River, can be rented out for private events of up to 150. Groups can even arrange an outdoor painting session “en plein air” (in the open air).
The Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington is a Colonial Revival mansion designed by Theodate Pope Riddle, the fourth registered female architect in the country. The museum houses some of the most important impressionist paintings in the world, including works by Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet and Claude Monet, and sits on a 152-acre landscape. Its indoor and outdoor facilities can be utilized for corporate meetings and teambuilding workshops for groups of up to 200.
