Roseland Cottage Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Significant dates

Henry C. Bowen House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
U.S. Historic district Contributing property

Roseland Cottage
Location in Connecticut Show map of Connecticut Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	556 Route 169, Woodstock, Connecticut
Built	1846
Architect	Joseph Collins Wells; Edwin Eaton
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
Part of	Woodstock Hill Historic District (ID98001578)
NRHP reference No.	77001414
Added to NRHP	August 24, 1977
Designated NHL	October 5, 1992
Designated CP	January 6, 1999

Roseland Cottage, also known as the Henry C. Bowen House, is a beautiful historic home in Woodstock, Connecticut. It is located on Route 169. This special house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Later, in 1992, it was named a National Historic Landmark.

People say it is one of the best-preserved summer homes in the country. Its inside decorations are almost exactly as they were when it was built. Today, Historic New England, a group that saves old places, owns Roseland Cottage. They run it as a museum so everyone can visit and learn about its past.

History of Roseland Cottage
- Famous Fourth of July Parties
- Roseland Cottage Today
Images for kids
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History of Roseland Cottage

Roseland Cottage was built in 1846. It was the summer home for Henry Chandler Bowen and his family. The house was designed in the Gothic Revival style. This style often features pointed arches and fancy trim.

The whole property includes a special garden with low hedges, an icehouse, and a carriage barn. It even has the oldest indoor bowling alley still around in the United States! The design of the property followed ideas from writer Andrew Jackson Downing. He believed homes should be practical and pretty.

Famous Fourth of July Parties

Starting in 1870, Roseland Cottage became famous for its huge Fourth of July parties. These were some of the biggest celebrations in the United States! Many important people visited Bowen's summer home for these events.

Four United States Presidents were guests and speakers at these parties. They were Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley. Other famous visitors included Henry Ward Beecher and Julia Ward Howe.

A local newspaper described the house and gardens during one party in 1887:

As one approached the house, the park in front of Roseland Cottage and the entire lawn appeared to be a mass of light with the Japanese lanterns of every conceivable shape hanging from the trees and every object that would support them, and colored lanterns supported upon sticks intermingled with them.

Roseland Cottage Today

The house is still in excellent condition. It has original Gothic furniture. The walls have special embossed decorations. Locals sometimes call the house "The Pink House" because it is painted a coral pink color.

Roseland's garden has twenty-one flowerbeds. More than 4,000 annual flowers grow there. They are bordered by boxwood hedges. The garden's design is the same as it was in 1850. It is now part of Connecticut's Historic Gardens.

The house is also part of the larger Woodstock Hill Historic District. This means it helps make the whole area special and historic.