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Dear Readers,

Welcome back to Side of Culture. We have three wonderful stories this month from Connecticut and Vermont all the way to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each article focuses on a house that has become a center of community interest, development, engagement and support from educational programs to poetry festivals and design classes. Each project has become an important corner stone of the civic and cultural life of their communities.

Two of the houses, Hill-Stead and its Museum and Casa Zalszupin, were the homes of architects who lived and worked in their buildings complete with their art collections, furniture, and gardens. The third house, Hildene, belonged to the son of President Lincoln and, like the other houses, is a strong civic center for the community of Manchester Vermont.

Barbara Rogers tells the story of Robert Todd Lincoln's site selection and developing his family homestead, Hildene, and how this special place has become a contemporary center of civic engagement and community with educational programs about farming with produce going to the local food bank, sustainable gardening, history, decorative arts, and special events.

Paul Clemence uses his evocative and sensitive photography to highlight the poignancy and power of Casa Zalszupin, its design, the furniture and the extraordinary talent and story of Polish-Brazilian modernist, Jorge Zalszupin. In this case, a visionary design executive has stepped in to sustain the house and further promote the story of the designer and architect.

Linda Cabasin uncovers a hidden gem in the northwest corner of Connecticut, the home of Theodate Pope Riddle, one of America's first women architects, who also designed the Colonial Revival house and museum. This beautiful estate has a world-class art collection, a sunken garden by Beatrix Farrand, an annual poetry festival, a historic farm complex and hiking trails.

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Thank you for reading!

Victoria Larson
Hildene: Robert Todd Lincoln’s Vermont Estate
By Barbara Radcliffe Rogers
Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the president, visited Manchester, Vermont, with his mother while he was a student at Harvard. Forty years later, as president of the Pullman Company – at the time America’s largest manufacturing corporation – he returned to Manchester to visit a business partner and found the property where he would build Hildene. Read on
Jorge Zalszupin’s House Showcases Brazilian Modernism with European Roots
By Paul Clemence
A house, especially an architect's own home, is one of the most personal architectural typologies. Given its smaller scale, it is certainly an opportunity to experiment with ideas and concepts. And, when the client to please is the architect him/herself, it is an even more unrestrained chance to experiment freely and showcase their vision. That was the case of the house the late Polish-Brazilian architect and designer Jorge Zalszupin conceived for himself and his family to live in, as well as to be an actual example of his unique interpretation of Modernism. Read on
75 Years of Art, Culture, and Nature at Connecticut’s Hill-Stead Museum
By Linda Cabasin
A surprising Connecticut gem, Hill-Stead Museum presents superb Impressionist works by Monet, Degas, Manet, and others in a well-preserved Colonial Revival house designed by pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle for her parents in the late 19th century. There’s even more to experience at Hill-Stead: its beautiful 152 acres, a National Historic Landmark, include the Sunken Garden, planned by Beatrix Farrand; a historic farm complex; and hiking trails through the natural landscape. Read on