Gallery of Photos: the Florence Griswold House in Old Lyme, Connecticut

View of the house painted by Matilda Browne

This is the last in a series of three about my recent visit to Connecticut.


Florence Griswold (1850 - 1937), the daughter of a sea captain, lived her entire life in Old Lyme, Connecticut, in a big old house which, with growing financial problems, was turned into a school for girls and then a boarding house.  It was in 1899 that the artist, Henry Ward Ranger--newly returned from Europe after a good view of the Impressionists--rented a room and urged his artist friends to do likewise.  Soon, there was a little colony of painters working in their own impressionist style, mostly en plein air.  Childe Hassam came.  Matilda Browne.  Also Woodrow Wilson's first wife spent time there as an art student.

View of the house from the back garden

One of the guest rooms

The parlor

Painting by Childe Hassam

Though they ate out on the porch in the summer, several of the artists took the opportunity to paint on the wood paneling in the dining room.

You can see some of the wood paneling paintings in the far corner.

Today the house exhibits American Impressionist paintings of the Old Lyme Art Colony.  And its corresponding museum has regular shows featuring art and historical items.  The Griswold house is located at 96 Lyme Street and lies just on the Lieutenant River.  The house has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Entry to the museum on the same property.