Stowe & Twain's Olde Fashioned Christmas

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Hartford’s Nook Farm turns back the clock and presents the sights and sounds of a Victorian holiday celebration on Saturday, December 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Snow Date: Sunday, December 15 Noon – 4 p.m.). Famed residents Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain always extended the spirit of the holidays to friends, neighbors and families in need. This holiday season, the Stowe Center and the Twain House are joining forces and opening their doors to families for an Olde-Fashioned Christmas experience.

Both houses will be decked with family decorations, Christmas trees, garlands and more - guests will “ooh” and “ahh” at the holiday feasts laid out on the dining tables. Historic interpreters will take you on guided tours and will explain the holiday traditions of each family. For this event, visitors may purchase a special discount combination ticket including guided tours of both the Stowe House and Twain House: $20 for adults; $10 for children (5-15).


Before or after touring the houses, visitors can take a horse-drawn carriage ride ‘round the historic grounds where the Twain and Stowe families lived and celebrated the holidays.  Revelers can stop at the Stowe Visitor Center to hear carolers.  Holiday crafts in the Stowe Visitor Center will satisfy everyone’s “DIY” gift-making urge and both museums’ stores will be open to help you catch up on your holiday shopping with unique gifts aplenty!

The Stowe Center is showcasing an exhibit in the Katharine Day House, available to all house tour ticket holders:


“Reforming the Season: Nineteenth-Century Reformers and Christmas,” with popular 19th-century images and objects, including etchings, greeting card images, Christmas toys, musical horns and sleds, introduced as Christmas became a holiday focused on good works.


Free parking is available in either museum’s visitor parking lot. The museums are immediately adjacent to each other. (Stowe is located at 77 Forest Street, Hartford and Twain is located at 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford).