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.

 

Upcoming Events

Tour WDS Garden by Pioneering Female Landscape Architect

The public is invited to view a piece of the world as seen through the eyes of Amy Cogswell—one of the first female landscape architects in the United States, and designer of the Colonial Revival Garden at the Webb-Deane-Stevens (WDS) Museum. On Sunday, June 24, 2018, from noon to 4 p.m., the WDS Colonial Revival Garden will be one of 14 historic gardens highlighted for Connecticut Historic Gardens Day. Visitors during the free event will also have the chance to win a framed poster featuring the winning entry for the 2018 Historic Gardens Day Poster Art Contest by Connecticut artist Bonnie Beers-Johnson.  More info…

New at the Museum

New Tiny Treasures at WDS in 2018

Miniature Buttolph House

Those with a passion for a rare find and an eye for exquisite detail are invited to view what’s new in the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum (WDS) collection as the 2018 season begins. WDS Executive Director Charles Lyle points out several tiny treasures, and a couple of restored favorites, recently added throughout the museum’s three historic homes. From portraits to porcelain, the new acquisitions hail … [Read More...]