The Shelburne Museum

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We have been debating about a trip to the Shelburne Museum for a few weeks but never seemed to fit it in with all the hikes, bike rides and bad weather. With only five more days before we head out of Middlebury, we decided to take advantage of some nice weather and head there midweek to explore the grounds. The 45 acre property is just south of downtown Shelburne and not too far from Shelburne Farms which we visited a little over a week ago. I am not a big fan of museums in general, so I was likely the one dragging my heels about visiting this place but we watched a few YouTube videos and it looked unusual enough to pique my interest. Unlike Shelburne Farms which is free, the Museum does charge $25 per person to enter although it is good for 2 consecutive days entrance to the grounds. We arrive just before it opens at 10 AM.

The Round Barn at Shelburne Museum

Now is a good time to give a little background about this place in order to appreciate the eclectic nature of the collections here. Shelburne Museum was founded by Electra Webb in 1947. She was born into a wealthy New York City family but ended up marrying into an even more wealthy family - the Vanderbilts. Her husband was the son of the owners of nearby Shelburne Farms which is how she ended up in the area. Electra had come from a family that collected fine artwork, but she became more interested in everyday objects - pottery, furniture, weathervanes, cigar store indians. Her collections were quite extensive and as they grew in size, she needed a bigger place to store and display them which prompted the creation of this museum. Nowadays she might have been considered a “hoarder” but her wealth afforded her with the ability to purchase very unique items and use the large parcel of land to store them. Given the wide variety of items, the museum is described as a “collection of collections”.

There are several talks or tours at specific times around the museum grounds. We pick two of them - one at 10:30 and another an hour later. This gives us twenty minutes or so to explore the Round Barn. This is a very unique building. It is an 80 foot diameter round barn built in 1901 in East Passumpic Vermont and moved the nearly 90 miles to the museum grounds in the mid 1980’s. Today the barn is home to the collection of antique horse-drawn carriages. There were both fancy and utilitarian wagons and sleighs to check out on the two levels.

1849 Horse Drawn Hearse

1890 Berlin Coach

Concord Stage Coach

Next we head to the Prentis House. A two story salt box home constructed in 1773 in Hadley Massachusetts and moved to the museum in 1954. This house is not open to the public except during one of the several tours offered throughout the day. We waited around the gardens just outside the main entrance and the volunteer showed up to unlock the building and give us a history of the building and collection inside. It turned out that we were the only visitors that showed up for this tour, so we got a very thorough and personal tour.

Room in the Prentis House

The actual interior furnishings are not at all representative of how this home would have looked back in its previous life. Electra had the building moved and offered it to one of her socialite friends to decorate as she saw fit. There was an ornate furniture and drapes as well as some tapestries that Chris really liked. There was even an interesting chain driven rotisserie in the main fireplace. We spent a great deal of time wandering the building and talking with the volunteer about our visits to other historic buildings during our travels.

Tapestry

Rotisserie Drive Mechanism

We leave this house and head to the Stencil House which is right next door. It too is only open during guided tours. Built in 1804 in Columbus New York, it was purchased by the museum and moved in the 1950’s. The highlight of this home are the full wall stencil painted onto the wallboards.

Fireplace in Stencil House

Stenciled Room

We had spent 45 minutes with our guide but we needed to hustle to our next tour - the Ticonderoga. This 220 foot side wheel steamboat was built in 1906 and used to operate on Lake Champlain taking passengers and cargo from Westport New York near the southern end of the lake to St. Albans Vermont on the north - about 60 miles away.

The Ticonderoga

How did such a large boat end up here? By 1950, more modern ferries made the Ticonderoga obsolete and its decline in business meant it was destined for the scrapyard. In steps Electra Webb to buy the boat for the museum. Initially they tried to continue its operation on the lake but realized it wasn’t possible so a plan was formulated to move the boat from the lake to the museum! It was roughly a 2 mile land journey by specially designed rail track and in the winter of 1955 it was moved to its current spot.

The Other Side of the Ship

The Ticonderoga is open to the public during museum hours, but we felt a guided tour might provide more insight and history to our visit of this incredible vessel. We head up to the designated meeting spot for our tour. A volunteer that has worked at the museum for many years greets the group of 15 or so visitors. We initially sit and get some of the history of the boat, how it was moved and about the extensive restoration that took place to make it look like it did during its early years. Then we start our walking tour. This woman really knew her information about the boat. She was quite proud of the unique vertical beam steam engine which took a little bit of imagination to get a sense for how it operated.

Steam Boilers

Engine Drive Mechanism

Upper Rocker Arm of Engine

Some of the detail in the woodwork really caught my eye. As well as grand ceilings and dining area. This was not your typical ferry boat but was designed for the expectations of well heeled clientele. We didn’t necessarily get to go anyplace that we couldn’t have visited on our own, but we felt we learned so much more than we would have if we had simply toured the ship on our own and read the signs along the way.

Carved Staircase Newel Post

Fancy Ceiling

Dining Area

Cargo Deck

By now we were getting hungry. There is a cafe on the grounds but we just headed out to the car for the lunch we had brought along before heading back in. There was a large group of bicyclists in the parking lot. They were part of Vermont Bicycle Tours - or VBT as they are currently known. Back in the late 1980’s to mid 1990’s, we used this company to tour parts of Vermont by bicycle. Seeing this group brought back some distant memories of our younger days. The business used to do tours of Vermont, but now offer tours to dozens of countries across 5 continents.

Our morning tours were great but there is so much more to see here that we need to pick up the pace somewhat if we hope to see it all. We decide to walk the outer perimeter of the grounds and then attempt to get to the central buildings before they close. The first stop is the carousel. Built in North Tonawanda New York in 1920, this is a nice addition to the museum.

Carousel

Carousel rides are available but a sign stating they would return after lunch prompted us to checkout the nearby Circus Building first. This is a newer building (1965) that was constructed on site rather than moved from some far off location. It is has a U-shape or horseshoe design and it is quite large - about 518 feet from one entrance to the other. Inside are all things circus related. Lots of photos from circus shows from around the country, a few hundred circus posters from as early as the 1830’s. The building is basically a long hallway with antique carved carousel animals on the inner curve and Arnold Circus Parade on the outside curve. Some 4000 one inch to one foot scale figures line the 500 foot hallway. They were created between 1925 to 1955. The detail was amazing.

Ram

Horse

Circus Parade

Band Wagon

At the far end of the building are two hand carved wood circus models with horses, elephants, clowns acrobats and bleachers full of spectators. The amount of effort that had to go into creating such a display is beyond comprehension. By the time we got through the Circus Building, the carousel operator was back from lunch and we were able to get a ride.

One of the Circus Models

We Ride the Merry-Go-Round

Next around the perimeter of the grounds is the railroad section of the museum. A freight shed has all sorts of railway lanterns, a replica steam engine and some hand cars for rail workers. The old Shelburne railroad station is a beautiful building and restored quite well. The interior looks like it could still be in use today.

Freight Shed

Shelburne Railroad Station

Main Office in Station

There is also an old locomotive and luxury sleeping car. It’s not possible to enter the locomotive, but you can walk through the Grand Isle sleeping car - built 1890. The furnishings and woodwork were ornate.

Locomotive

Grand Isle Sleeper Car

Fancy Interior of Sleeper Car

We skip over the Pleissner Gallery. It is one of several art collections and Chris wanted to see some other artwork elsewhere so didn’t want to use up my limited artwork attention span. But we did stop at the next building - the Blacksmith and Wheelwright Shop. This was a fun stop because there was a volunteer doing some metalworking. We ended up spending a fair amount of time talking with him about how he got into this hobby and many other things. There were lots of woodworking tools in the wheel making side of the building but they apparently don’t have a volunteer to actually show the work in process.

Blacksmith and Wheelwright Shop

Hard Working Blacksmith

We took a quick look inside the 1840 Meeting House from Charlotte Vermont before exploring the Horseshoe Barn Annex. This building was built here in 1957 to house wagons, stagecoaches and other farm vehicles.

1840 Meeting House

Horseshoe Barn Annex

Lady Oxford Wagon

Inside Horseshoe Barn Annex

The more impressive building in this corner of the property it the Horseshoe Barn. Originally Electra tried to buy a dairy barn in Georgia Vermont but was unable to do make a deal with the owner so she had her staff build an exact copy of the barn. This two story building was built in 1949 and houses over 200 more horse drawn carriages, coaches and sleighs from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. It includes some incredible harnesses used  by the horses to pull them.

Horseshoe Barn

Sleighs

Beautiful Stagecoach

Next to the Horseshoe Barn is the Print Shop. There was some neat equipment in this large building. There was even a volunteer using some of it to make cards that would be sold in the gift shop. There is also a weaving display with some pretty old looms that looked like they might still get used from time to time.

Old Printing Press

The next building had a vast assortment of quilts, rugs and needlework. There was also a huge collection of hats and fancy hat boxes.

Detailed Needlework

Hats and Hat Boxes

The Variety Unit was a building full of, well, a variety of things. There were lots of dolls - many of which were just a little bit creepy looking. There were also some glass covered room vignettes that were rather detailed with furniture and dolls. Another section had a vast number of piggy banks but most were not piggies. There was a large collection of what looked like old Delft plates but turned out to be more modern design with unusual themes. There was even a large collection of glass canes!

Detailed Room Scene Miniature

Bull Dog Bank

Unusual Delft-like Plate

Glass Canes

The one room schoolhouse from Vergennes built in 1840 had some old desks that sadly were reminiscent of ones I had in grade school.

One Room Schoolhouse

Just down from the schoolhouse is the Stagecoach Inn. Built in 1787 in Charlotte Vermont and moved here in 1949, this building houses a huge collection of folk art. It’s a large 2 story building that is chock full of weathervanes, cigar store figures, ship carvings and decorative trade signs. We spent a fair amount of time wandering the rooms trying to take it all in.

Whimsical Weathervanes

Tradesman Signs

Cigar Store Figures

Jack Tar Figure

The 168 foot covered bridge came from Cambridge Vermont built in 1845 and moved to the museum in 1949. It has two vehicle lanes as well as a pedestrian footpath.

1845 Covered Bridge

Inside the Bridge

By now we were definitely getting worn out walking slowly around the grounds and checking things out. We started to opt to skip some of the buildings so we could get to some of the artwork I had promised Chris we could stop at before we left. The Apothecary Shop and General store was one we stopped at. It had a fascinating display of things a druggist would have from a long time ago. There were lots of unusual things to see including a very large collection of barber razors.

The Vermont House Gallery

Would You Like a Shave?

Museum Store at Diamond Barn

We had to stop at the lighthouse. Built in 1871 on Colchester Reef in Lake Champlain. It was home to 11 different lighthouse keepers and their families. In 1952, it was no longer in service and was moved to the museum and restored.

Lighthouse

Fresnel Lens

Our last stop of the day was at the Electra Havenmeyer Webb Memorial Building to see the paintings Chris has been wanting to see. This building was built after her death by her children in 1967. The outside is based on a Greek Revival design from a home in Orwell Vermont. But the interior is a recreation of six rooms from her 1930’s Park Avenue apartment in New York City.

Room in Webb Memorial Building

This is quite the place. Maybe just a little fancier than we are used to! There are all sorts of very ornate furniture and the spiral staircase between the floors is amazing. The French Impressionist masterpieces that were on display were definitely less impressive than I was expecting. Maybe it was simply because of the subdued lighting that the rooms had but the paintings seemed to lack a vibrancy. I guess it’s just as well that I don’t appreciate these since I can’t afford them!

A Dizzying Look Down Spiral Staircase

Edouard Manet Painting - Still-Life with Salmon

Manet - Venice Grand Canal

It was about 5 PM when we finally left the museum. While we know we didn’t see absolutely everything there is there, we felt that we had seen 90% of it and didn’t feel like there would be the need to come back tomorrow. We had considered finding a nearby restaurant but realized we had worn ourselves out and would just head back home. Shelburne Museum was a very enjoyable stop, just plan on spending a fair amount of time here if you want to see even half of the “collection of collections”.