Outside Manchester, the 24-room Georgian Revival mansion of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, is a national treasure. Lincoln family members lived here until 1975, when it was converted into a museum and filled with many of the family's personal effects and furnishings. These include the hat Abraham Lincoln probably wore when he delivered the Gettysburg Address, and remarkable brass casts of his hands, the right one swollen from shaking hands while campaigning for the presidency.
Guided tours of the mansion depart at 11am and 1pm from June to September; at other times visitors can take a self-guided tour. The museum ticket includes access to the surrounding grounds, which are home to 8 miles of walking, skiing and snowshoeing trails , an observatory with a telescope, the Cutting and Kitchen Garden (a pretty herb and vegetable garden) the Hoyt Formal Garden (an exquisite flower garden designed to resemble a stained-glass window), and an agricultural center with a solar-powered barn where you can see the goats that produce Hildene cheese (watch it being made here, and purchase it at the museum gift shop).
Hildene also has a packed calendar of concerts and lectures ; check its website for up-to-date listings.
