Decorative Arts of Deerfield
Trace the history of Decorative Arts in early New England with visits to the carefully preserved houses and world famous collections of crafts, furnishings and decorations at Historic Deerfield.
SELF GUIDED SPACES Included with paid admission
Visit our museum houses and world-famous collections of early American crafts and decorative arts on your own, at your own pace. Your choices include:
• The Flynt Center of Early New England Life has open-storage of our permanent collection in the Museum’s Attic, and two galleries currently featuring exhibitions of our textile and furniture collections. Open 9:30 to 4:30
• The Stebbins House was the first brick house in Deerfield built in 1799 by Asa Stebbins. The house now showcases decorative arts in the neoclassical style that would have been popular in that period. Open 9:30 to 4:30
• Apprentices’ Workshop at Dwight House shows how things were made by hand long ago. Learn about woodworking, weaving cloth, and making ceramics. Open 12 to 4:30
• Silver and Metalware Collection houses our collection of American silver, dating from the late 17th century through the early 19th century. Open 2 to 4:30
GUIDED HOUSE TOURS Included with paid admission
Your choices include:
• The Ashley House was built for the Reverend Jonathan Ashley, the town’s second minister, in the 1730s. Historic Deerfield founders Henry and Helen Flynt restored it in 1948, and furnished it with a range of 18th-century decorative arts appropriate for the River Gods – the Connecticut River Valley elite, of which Ashley was a part. Visitors should arrive five minutes before the start of hourly tours. Tours are available on the hour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and last approximately 35 minutes.
• The Allen House… Built in 1734, and renovated in 1945, the Allen House served as the residence of Historic Deerfield’s founders Henry and Helen Flynt. The interiors of the house have been left as they were when the Flynts lived here. Arrangements for tours of this house must be made when you purchase your tickets.