Welcome

Located in the center of Connecticut’s largest historic district, the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum provides the quintessential New England experience. Visitors are immersed in life of the mid-18th and early-19th centuries during informative and entertaining one-hour tours. We also host a number of annual events to entertain, educate and enlighten visitors.
First opened in 1919, the Museum is owned and operated by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Connecticut and is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Tour four remarkable 18th-century houses

Joseph Webb House

The 1752 Joseph Webb House is where George Washington and French General Rochambeau met in May 1781 to plan the campaign which led several months later to the final battle of the Revolutionary War and the defeat of the British in Yorktown, Virginia. The Webb House was later owned by photographer and antiquarian Wallace Nutting. Read more.

Silas Deane House

Silas Deane House

The Silas Deane House, circa 1770, was built for America’s Revolutionary War diplomat to France as both his residence and as a power base for his political aspirations. The Deane House features an excellent collection of mid-to-late 18th century furniture made in Connecticut. The kitchen and second floor chamber in the rear interpret the life of slaves in this period. Read more.

Isaac Stevens House

Isaac Stevens House

The Isaac Stevens House depicts the life of a middle class family in the 1820s and 30s, with many original family possessions and a fascinating period toy exhibit. The interiors have recently been reinterpreted with the installation of reproduction block-printed wallpapers, which had become affordable and were very popular in middle class households at the time. Read more.

Buttolph Williams House

Buttolph-Williams House

Within easy walking distance is the Buttolph-Williams House. Owned by Connecticut Landmarks and managed by the Museum, it captures the spirit of Puritan life in New England in the 17th century and is the setting for the Newberry Award-Winning novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1958) by Elizabeth George Speare. Read more.

 

News And Events

Cynthia Riccio Promoted to Associate Director and Director of Visitor Engagement at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum has named Cynthia Joseph Riccio as associate director and director of visitor engagement in recognition of her achievements and expanded responsibilities. […]Details

Celebrating the Opening of the New Holcombe Education Center at WDS

The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum will open the new Holcombe Education Center with a week-end long celebration beginning on Friday, June 4, 2021, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony commencing at 9:30 a.m. Opening-weekend activities include a lawn party, exhibit openings and free admission to the museum. […]Details

Holcombe Education Center Named at Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum

A new facility dedicated to expanding and enlivening the public programming and education offered by the Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum will be named the Holcombe Education Center in recognition of Lucy Eaton Holcombe, whose bequest helped make the project possible. A new facility dedicated to expanding and enlivening the public programming and education offered by the Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum will be named the Holcombe Education Center in recognition of Lucy Eaton Holcombe, whose bequest helped make the project possible. […]Details

Joshua Campbell Torrance to Lead WDS

The Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of Joshua Campbell Torrance as executive director of the renowned historic museum beginning November 15, 2020. Torrance holds more than 20 years of museum leadership experience, most recently at the Bennington Museum in Vermont, and the Woodlawn Museum, Gardens & Park in Ellsworth, Maine. “We are […] Details.