glebehousemuseum.org

What is the Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden?

The Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden is a historic house museum in Woodbury, Connecticut, set in the Litchfield Hills. The house dates to about 1740 and is noted for combining gambrel and saltbox roof styles. It was home to John Rutgers Marshall, Woodbury's first Anglican priest, who arrived from New York City in 1771 with his wife Sarah. The site pairs period rooms and a regional furniture collection with a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll, and it operates as one of the earliest historic house museums in the United States.

The Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden

H3 What you can do there

• Tour the house for 18th-century domestic life, architecture and furniture.
• Walk the Gertrude Jekyll Garden, the main draw for garden visitors.
• Attend seasonal events, including All Hollow's Eve Cemetery Tours, a Haunted Museum, and a Holiday Festival; the site also lists talks and workshops such as herbal medicine programs and afterschool activities.
• Volunteer as a tour guide, gift shop greeter, program helper or garden maintainer.

H3 Who it suits

• History and decorative-arts visitors who prefer furnished period houses over object-only museums.
• Gardeners interested in Jekyll's planting style in a New England setting.
• Families looking for Halloween or holiday programming rather than a quiet study visit.

H3 Practical next step Check the events calendar before you go, since some programs require dates and registration, and confirm current days and tour times. If your main interest is the garden, aim for the growing season; if it is the house and collection, any open day works.

What can I see and do during a visit to the Glebe House Museum?

At the Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden in Woodbury, Connecticut, a visit centers on an early historic house, its regional furniture collection, and a garden designed in the Gertrude Jekyll tradition. The house dates to about 1740 and is noted for an unusual combination of gambrel and saltbox roof styles; it was occupied by Woodbury’s first Anglican priest, John Rutgers Marshall, who arrived with his wife Sarah in 1771. Interpretive tours and educational programs aim to give a sense of 18th-century life.

H3 What you can see

• The historic house and its architecture, including the mixed gambrel-and-saltbox roofline.
• An outstanding regional furniture collection displayed in period rooms.
• The Gertrude Jekyll Garden, a designed landscape that pairs with the house visit.
• Seasonal decorations and event-specific displays, depending on the calendar.

H3 What you can do

• Take a guided tour of the house and garden.
• Join educational programs and family events.
• Attend special events such as All Hollow’s Eve Cemetery Tours and Haunted Museum, the Holiday Festival, and Haunted Hollow Tours.
• Check the schedule for talks and workshops, including topics like “The First: Witchcraft in Connecticut” and “Herbal Medicines of Colonial America.”
• Volunteer in roles such as giving tours, greeting visitors in the gift shop, presenting programs and events, or maintaining the garden.

H3 Who it suits

• History and architecture enthusiasts who want an authentic house-museum experience.
• Garden visitors interested in a Gertrude Jekyll–inspired design.
• Families looking for seasonal, event-based activities.
• Travelers exploring the Litchfield Hills and historic Woodbury village center.

H3 Practical decision points

• If you want a traditional museum visit, plan around a guided tour and the furniture collection.
• If you want atmosphere and storytelling, choose a seasonal event like the cemetery tours or Haunted Museum.
• If you want a quieter experience, visit outside major event dates and allow time in the garden.
• If you are considering volunteering, the site lists tour, gift shop, program, event, and garden roles.

Next step: check the events calendar before you go, since some programs are seasonal or have changed dates, then choose a tour-only visit or a special-event visit based on your interests. For broader context on the region, you can also consult CTvisit or Woodbury, CT.

How do I plan a trip to the Glebe House Museum, including hours, admission, and directions?

Start with the essentials: the Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden sits at 49 Hollow Road in Woodbury, Connecticut, in the Litchfield Hills. It is a historic house museum (built about 1740) with an outstanding regional furniture collection and a Gertrude Jekyll garden, so a visit is part house tour, part garden stroll. The museum hosts seasonal events such as Haunted Hollow Tours, All Hollow's Eve Cemetery Tours, a Holiday Festival, and colonial-themed programs, so your planning should begin by checking what is on during your dates.

Before you go

• Check the museum's own site for current hours, tour times, admission prices, and any seasonal closures: The Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden.
• Because this is a small historic house, hours are often limited and tours may run on a set schedule rather than continuously. Confirm before driving.
• If you want the garden at its best, aim for late spring through early fall; the house itself is the draw in colder months.
• Events can change access to rooms or the garden, so verify whether a special event replaces or supplements the regular tour.

H3. Admission The site does not publish admission rates in the information available here, so treat any figure you see elsewhere as unverified. Look for a ticketing or donation page on the official site, and note that PayPal appears as a payment option, which suggests online payment may be possible for some events or programs. For a concrete plan: decide your budget in advance, then confirm the current rate and whether discounts apply for students, seniors, or members before you arrive.

H3. Directions and timing Woodbury is in western Connecticut, reachable by car; public transit to the village center is limited, so driving is the practical choice. Use the official address (49 Hollow Road, Woodbury, CT) in your navigation app rather than a general "Woodbury" search. Plan roughly two to three hours for the house and garden together, plus travel time. A reader driving from New York City or Hartford should treat this as a half-day outing and pair it with other Woodbury stops, since the museum itself is compact.

Making the most of it

• Join a guided tour if one is offered; the architecture (a gambrel-and-saltbox combination) and the furniture collection are best explained by a guide.
• Ask about the Marshall family, who occupied the house from 1771, and about the garden's Gertrude Jekyll design influence.
• Check the events calendar for lectures, workshops, and family programs, which often add context beyond the standard tour.
• Volunteers lead tours and events, so a friendly question about the garden's seasonal plantings usually pays off.

Your next step: open the official site, confirm hours and admission for your specific date, then call or email if anything is unclear before you set out.

What special events and programs does the Glebe House Museum host throughout the year?

The Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden runs a year-round slate of seasonal and educational programs rather than a single recurring event. According to the museum's own site, its calendar has recently included:

• Haunted Hollow Tours — an October event tied to Halloween, along with All Hollow's Eve Cemetery Tours and a Haunted Museum.
• "The First: Witchcraft in Connecticut" — a history talk or program on early Connecticut witchcraft.
• Marshall Children After School — a recurring children's program that returns each fall.
• Herbal Medicines of Colonial America — a webinar plus hands-on workshop (listed as postponed).
• A Holiday Festival — a winter event, alongside other family programming held throughout the year.

The Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden

A useful next step: If you're planning a visit around a specific event, check the site's events section before you travel, since dates shift — the herbal-medicine program, for example, was postponed, and the children's program was given a new fall date. The museum also relies on volunteers to lead tours, staff the gift shop, present programs and maintain the garden, so volunteering is another way to take part if you're local to Woodbury.

How to choose among them: The Halloween tours and Holiday Festival suit families and casual visitors looking for atmosphere; the lecture-style programs like the witchcraft talk and the herbal-medicine webinar/workshop suit adults interested in colonial history and material culture. The after-school series is aimed specifically at children.

Why is the Gertrude Jekyll Garden significant and what should I look for when visiting it?

The Gertrude Jekyll Garden at the Glebe House is significant because it is a rare American example of a design by Gertrude Jekyll, the influential British garden writer and designer known for painterly, color-graded planting. It is paired with a house built around 1740 that mixes gambrel and saltbox roof styles, so the visit combines 18th-century domestic history with a designed landscape rather than treating the garden as an afterthought. The site presents the architecture, regional furniture collection, and garden together as one experience, which is why it is often described as one of the more authentic historic house museums in the region.

What to look for when visiting

• Color sequencing and drifts. Jekyll is associated with gradual color transitions and repeated plant groupings. Look for sweeps of one hue flowing into another rather than isolated specimen plants.
• The garden as a room. Notice how the planting relates to the house, paths, and boundaries. Jekyll designed gardens as outdoor spaces with structure and enclosure, not just flower beds.
• Herbaceous borders in season. These gardens change dramatically through the growing season. What you see in spring will differ from late summer, so a repeat visit or a timing check matters.
• The house-garden relationship. The garden was designed for this specific property. Look at sightlines from the house and from the garden back toward the building.
• Colonial context. The house was occupied by Woodbury's first Anglican priest, John Rutgers Marshall, who arrived from New York City in 1771 with his wife Sarah. The garden and house together reflect how a historic property was interpreted and restored over time.

Practical next step

Check the events and programs before you go. The site hosts seasonal programming such as cemetery tours, a haunted museum, a holiday festival, and educational workshops, and some programs have been rescheduled or postponed. If you are traveling specifically for the garden, ask when plantings are at their peak and whether a guided tour is available, since interpretation adds context you would otherwise miss. For broader context on Jekyll's design approach, the official Gardens Illustrated site publishes garden design coverage, and for Connecticut heritage travel, Connecticut Office of Tourism lists statewide historic sites.

How can I volunteer or support the Glebe House Museum?

Volunteering at the Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden is a hands-on way to support a small historic house museum. The site lists four main volunteer roles: giving tours, greeting visitors in the gift shop, presenting programs and events, and maintaining the garden. If you prefer gardening, the Gertrude Jekyll Garden is a genuine draw — this is a designed garden, not just landscaping around a house, so volunteers with plant knowledge or an interest in garden history are especially useful.

Ways to support beyond volunteering

• Attend an event. The museum runs family programming through the year, including cemetery tours and a haunted museum at Halloween, a holiday festival, and after-school programs such as the Marshall Children series. Ticket purchases and attendance are direct support.
• Join a workshop or webinar. The page lists topics like witchcraft in colonial Connecticut and herbal medicines of colonial America — good options if you want to learn something before committing time.
• Donate or become a member. Small historic sites rely on this more than large institutions do; check the site directly for current options.
• Shop the gift shop. If you visit, gift shop purchases support operations, and the shop itself is a volunteer post.

A practical first step

Decide which role fits your schedule and skills, then contact the museum directly through the website to ask about current needs and training. Volunteer needs at a site this size shift with the season — garden work concentrates in the growing months, while tours and events pick up in fall and winter. If you are considering a one-off commitment, an event like the Haunted Hollow tours is an easier entry point than a recurring tour-guide slot.

For context on the wider local heritage scene, Connecticut's official state site and statewide preservation groups can point you to similar small museums that also need volunteers.