Linden Place
By: Susan Battle, Executive Director
From Summer, 2019
Linden Place is an 1810 Federal mansion designed and built by Rhode Island architect, Russell Warren. This extraordinary estate, in the heart of downtown Bristol, consists of the mansion, lovely sculpture-filled gardens, an 1825 carriage barn, a 1902 Ballroom and outbuildings dating from 1750.
The mission of Linden Place is to preserve and restore its treasured historic property and to ensure its public accessibility by developing a program of uses that will enhance the artistic, cultural and educational life of the community. Linden Place puts this mission into practice by hosting a dynamic line-up of tours, programs and exhibits highlighting the history of the mansion, its inhabitants and the town of Bristol. These include walking tours focused on the 18th century transatlantic slave trade, a summer arts camp for kids, holiday concerts and rotating exhibits of the DeWolf-Colt collections. We also host several large-scale fundraisers annually to help pay for constant restoration and preservation projects of this 200 year-old estate.
Tour highlights include tales of DeWolf family exploits, from their privateering and slave trading, to their financial ruin and triumphant return to prosperity during Victorian times. Guides show visitors to Linden Place’s magnificent four story spiral staircase, a chandelier that once hung in Buckingham Palace and original oriental rugs and furnishings. Come tour the rooms where four Presidents have been entertained and scenes from the film The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, were shot. Visitors are welcome to stroll through the sculpture-filled gardens where they will find Greek bronzes, an 18th Century gazebo, and a 200 year-old horse drawn carriage.
Our most interesting collections piece is an original hand-written and signed letter from Thomas Jefferson on display, written to a DeWolf family member in the 1820’s toward the end of Jefferson’s life. The letter speaks of the importance of separation of church and state and of free speech, issues that are as important today as they were almost 200 years ago. The letter is brief, poignant and always a favorite of our visitors young and old alike.
Linden Place is located in the center of Bristol’s historic waterfront district at 500 Hope Street, Bristol and is open to the public year-round. Tours of the mansion are given Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm and Sun, 12pm-4pm.
You can contact Linden Place at info@lindenplace.org or (401)-253-0390.
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