Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home

Hildene is a compound word composed of two old English words: ""Hil,"" which means ""hill,"" and ""dene,"" which means ""valley with stream."" It was named after Robert and his wife Mary's Vermont home, which sits atop a hill with sweeping views of the Taconic Mountains to the west, the Green Mountains to the east, and the Battenkill River, which flows through the great Battenkill Valley below. Hildene was built by the Lincolns as a summer residence around the turn of the twentieth century. Robert Todd Lincoln was the only child born to Mary Todd Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln who lived to adulthood. As a young man in the summer of 1864, he came to Manchester to meet up with his mother and brother Tad at the Equinox Hotel, where he stayed for a few days. He returned some forty years later to purchase 392 acres of land on which he would construct what he would refer to as his ancestral home. Robert was the president of the Pullman Company at the time, which was the largest manufacturing corporation in the United States. Peggy Beckwith, Abraham Lincoln's great-granddaughter and the last Lincoln descendant to reside at Hildene, expanded the estate's land holdings by purchasing additional land. Her will stipulated that Hildene be given to the Church of Christ, Scientist in accordance with her grandmother's wishes when she died in 1975. The will stipulated that Hildene should be kept as a memorial to the Lincoln family by the Church of England. When the Church realized it was not in a financial position to do so, it didn't take long for the decision to be made, and plans were quickly put in place to sell Hildene to developers. The Church's plans for Hildene were discovered by local neighbors and community members, who fought to save the property. After three years in court, they were finally successful in obtaining the right to purchase Hildene. The Friends of Hildene, a non-profit organization, raised the funds necessary to purchase the estate in 1978, and then began the lengthy process of restoring the house and formal garden. A Georgian revival mansion and 14 historic buildings dot the 412-acre estate, which includes the home, formal garden, and observatory; the Welcome Center and The Museum Store in the historic carriage barn; the 1903 Pullman car, Sunbeam; and Hildene Farm. The estate has been in the same family for four generations. An 1832 schoolhouse still serves as a teaching greenhouse and composting facility, as well as vegetable gardens and an apple orchard in the lower portion of the property (the dene). The farm also includes a solar-powered goat dairy and cheese-making facility and a teaching greenhouse and composting facility in the lower portion of the property (the dene). Aside from hosting agricultural and environmental courses throughout the school year, the dene also serves as a classroom for Burr & Burton Academy high school students. Hildene's deep commitment to conservation, stewardship, and sustainability, as well as its mission Values into Action, are embodied in the BBA-Hildene program, which is completely immersive.