At the Crossroads of History
At the Crossroads of History
November 1st – April 30th
Winter special events & group reservations only.
Email ethanallenhomestead@gmail.com to book a winter visit.
General admission will open again on May 1, 2025.
Click here to plan your visit.
Copyright © 2024 Ethan Allen Homestead Museum
At the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, we are committed to becoming as accessible as possible to all of our guests. This is an always on-going and evolving process, and it is not without difficulty as we have to balance our natural landscape, with the integrity of our historic structures, and our financial and institutional capabilities. We are always welcome for suggestions for improvement and assistance in achieving this goal of being able to fully serve ALL of our guests. For information on strategies we consider, and accessibility requirements, please follow the link below provided by the University of Vermont:
https://www.uvm.edu/histpres/307/AccessGuide.pdf
Parking Lot
Our Parking Lot is dirt, and can get muddy. For your convience, we have two marked handicap parking spots on either side of the entrance ramp.
The Visitor Center
The Visitor Center is fully accessible via wheel chair, we do not have any automatic doors currently, but our staff and volunteers would be happy to assist if required. For our guests with mobility issues, we have one wheelchair for guest use, just ask our cashier for assistance.
Path to the Allen House
The path to the Allen House is crushed, packed gravel and is approximately 150 yards long. For guests with difficulty walking long distances, use of our wheel chair or other assistive device is recommended. Guests will often require assistance moving their wheel chairs or other assistive devices down this path. Again, our staff and volunteers are happy to assist.
Entrance to the Allen House
There is a ramp leading up to the Allen House that allows access to wheel chairs and walkers. We are unable to widen the doorways without compromising the structure. There are also ramps alongside the house that allow more access, and are within code.
Inside the Allen House
The Allen House is set up in an architectural design indigenous to the 1780s. As such, the interior is cramped, the doors narrow, and there are doorjambs that run the bottom of each doorway. Assistance may be required in this case, and as always our staff and volunteers are happy to help.
Certain objects in the Allen House may be handled. Our Guides are more than willing to describe and let people handle these reproductions.
Our Guides are not fully trained in ASL, but text versions of our tours may be obtained prior to your tour.
We are always willing to working with anyone assisting guests with visual or hearing impairments.
History is at its core a collection of diverse stories and experiences that we tell about ourselves. The literature, objects, land, and people all have stories and perspectives. They are not straight lines, nor are they universal experiences, rather they are collections of narratives that intersect and interact with each other. The storyteller and the listener construct meaning together. History is not a fixed thing, rather it is constantly evolving and growing based on people sharing and being included. The more stories and experiences that are invited to sit at the table and share, the deeper the knowledge, and richer the understanding.
In the earliest days of our Republic, the concept of natural law was inscribed in the code of our civic religion. Certain concepts like freedom of speech, a free press, security, and freedom of assembly to petition for a redress of grievances were not rights granted by a government, but natural rights that existed outside of governmental power. Central to these concepts is the notion that government should be formed by the consent of the governed, with all people welcomed and all perspectives welcomed, and those natural rights and laws understood to apply to all living things. Yet, we must also be honest that despite aspiring to these lofty ideals, the founders were not able to live up to them. Certain attitudes, prejudices, and failings prevented them from fulfilling that promise. It is incumbent upon us as the inheritors of their legacy to learn from both their successes and their failures, to live up to those goals ourselves and ensure that the natural rights of all living beings are respected, understood, and protected. Inherent in that concept is the responsibility that we leave our children a better legacy than we received ourselves.
We stand in solidarity against institutionalized, governmental, and societal oppression. We stand against racism, majoritarian tyranny, cultural hegemony, and bigotry in any form. Those concepts are abhorrent to natural law and deny living beings their natural rights. We commit to be a space where stories and ideas that challenge and dismantle systems of domination and oppression can be told and shared. We commit to leaving our children’s legacy, our society, and our home better than we found it.
