Hill-Stead Museum Granted Capital Needs Funds by Connecticut State Bond Commission

Hill-Stead Museum’s $501,500 request for capital needs project funds was approved by the Connecticut State Bond Commission on Friday, July 26. 

The funds will go towards critical internal and external structural projects at the Museum. Projects include a cost-saving conversion to natural gas, roof replacement and chimney repairs, a fire suppression system completion, wood, shutter and window repairs, and parking lot improvements. Hill-Stead has an annual operating budget of $1.4 million.

“We are incredibly thankful to Governor Malloy and the State Bond Commission for approving Hill-Stead’s request for these funds, which will go towards making imperative improvements to our historic facility,” said Debra K. Pasquale, Interim Executive Director of Hill-Stead Museum. “For non-profit arts institutions like Hill-Stead, completing necessary capital improvement projects like the ones we have planned is only possible with support like this, and we are grateful to them for this crucial funding."

“Hill-Stead Museum is an integral part of the cultural history of Farmington and Connecticut,” said Governor Dannel P. Malloy.  “Visitors from all over the world have been visiting this Colonial Revival home and its property for over 65 years, and with these funds, people can continue to enjoy the art, history, Sunken Garden and trails that Hill-Stead has to offer for many years to come.”

About Hill-Stead Museum

Hill-Stead Museum is noted for its 1901 33,000-square-foot house filled with art and antiques. Pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle designed the grand house, set on 152 hilltop acres, to showcase the Impressionist masterpieces amassed by her father, Cleveland iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope.  Hill-Stead is one of the nation’s few remaining representations of early-20th-century Country Place Estates.  Collections include original furnishings, paintings by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, James M. Whistler and Mary Cassatt, as well as numerous works on paper and Japanese woodblock prints.  Stately trees, seasonal gardens, meadows, over three miles of stone walls and blazed hiking trails accent the grounds.  A centerpiece of the property is the circa 1920 sunken garden designed by Beatrix Farrand, today the site of the renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. The 1901 period rooms are open for tours Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm. The last tour of the day begins at 3 pm. Grounds are open daily 7:30 am-5:30 pm. For tour and program information, browse www.hillstead.org or call860.677.4787.