About Hildene
The Lincoln Family Home is located in the Town of Manchester, the north shire town of Bennington County, Vermont. The location of Hildene is fairly easily accessible from the area to the west of United States Route 7, telling the eventual story of Robert and Mary Lincoln. Robert was the eldest son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, the only one to survive past eighteen (18) years of age, and the only one to outlive both his parents.
The unfortunate reality for visitors to Hildene was that Robert Lincoln was not a towering presence nor a historical figure resembling his father Abraham Lincoln. The myth about Robert Lincoln was one of replication of his father, except that the replication had not been an obvious feature to begin with. Perhaps the most notable distinction was that Robert Todd Lincoln had disappointed his people with a figure of only five feet, nine inches—seven inches shorter than Abraham Lincoln in fact.
What to Expect
Even in spite of the location of the home in Vermont, resemblance to an estate may be fairly surprising from the New England context. However, the Hildene location was more or less identified as a retreat location in the Town of Manchester, Bennington County, Vermont. Beyond the New England context and Manchester, the Lincoln Family Home is located in a rural area typical of the southern part of Vermont.
Though located in New England, the architectural resemblance to Southern slave plantations may actually be quite a surprise. However, the home at Hildene is actually somewhat smaller than many Southern estates and shares more characteristics with Appalachian estates in the Shenandoah Valley for which the Lincoln family ancestry had been associated.
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