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The Homestead was built in 1778 during the Revolutionary War as a safe house and raided by Tories in 1781. < Back Revolutionary War Times The Homestead was built in 1778 during the Revolutionary War as a safe house and raided by Tories in 1781. Previous Next

Northern Europe, 1825-1875. Painted and gilded pine, mirrored glass; 19 ¾" h. x 9 ⅞" w. < Back Looking Glass Second Floor - SW Bedroom Other Decorative Arts Northern Europe, 1825-1875. Painted and gilded pine, mirrored glass; 19 ¾" h. x 9 ⅞" w. With a carved and pierced crest with green and red floral motifs against a light brown painted frame. Frame surround is molded and painted with parcelgilt inner edge and corners; bottom of frame pierced with red and green detail. Previous Next

14 ¾’ h. x 14 ½” w. (sight size). Circa 1820-1840. < Back Theorem Painting on Silk Velvet Second Floor - Guest Room Other Decorative Arts 14 ¾’ h. x 14 ½” w. (sight size). Circa 1820-1840. Central image is a basket filled with fruits; Condition is poor with discoloring due to light burning overall, particularly of the crème ground. Previous Next

< Back Book Club: "The Cause" by Joseph Ellis Thurs., Jan 20, 7 pm, parlor, free The Mather Homestead book club explores a variety of books, from fiction to nonfiction, from historical to covering other topics such as the environment and National Parks in honor of Stephen Tyng Mather. Discussions are led. Join us even if you haven't read the book. A culminating work on the American Founding by one of its leading historians, The Cause rethinks the American Revolution as we have known it. In one of the most “exciting and engaging” (Gordon S. Wood) histories of the American founding in decades, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Joseph J. Ellis offers an epic account of the origins and clashing ideologies of America’s revolutionary era, recovering a war more brutal, and more disorienting, than any in our history, save perhaps the Civil War. For more than two centuries, historians have debated the history of the American Revolution, disputing its roots, its provenance, and above all, its meaning. These questions have intrigued Ellis―one of our most celebrated scholars of American history―throughout his entire career. With this much-anticipated volume, he at last brings the story of the revolution to vivid life, with “surprising relevance” (Susan Dunn) for our modern era. Completing a trilogy of books that began with Founding Brothers, The Cause returns us to the very heart of the American founding, telling the military and political story of the war for independence from the ground up, and from all sides: British and American, loyalist and patriot, white and Black. Taking us from the end of the Seven Years’ War to 1783, and drawing on a wealth of previously untapped sources, The Cause interweaves action-packed tales of North American military campaigns with parlor-room intrigues back in England, creating a thrilling narrative that brings together a cast of familiar and long-forgotten characters. Here Ellis recovers the stories of Catherine Littlefield Greene, wife of Major General Nathanael Greene, the sister among the “band of brothers”; Thayendanegea, a Mohawk chief known to the colonists as Joseph Brant, who led the Iroquois Confederation against the Patriots; and Harry Washington, the enslaved namesake of George Washington, who escaped Mount Vernon to join the British Army and fight against his former master. Countering popular histories that romanticize the “Spirit of ’76,” Ellis demonstrates that the rebels fought under the mantle of “The Cause,” a mutable, conveniently ambiguous principle that afforded an umbrella under which different, and often conflicting, convictions and goals could coexist. Neither an American nation nor a viable government existed at the end of the war. In fact, one revolutionary legacy regarded the creation of such a nation, or any robust expression of government power, as the ultimate betrayal of The Cause. This legacy alone rendered any effective response to the twin tragedies of the founding―slavery and the Native American dilemma―problematic at best. Written with the vivid and muscular prose for which Ellis is known, and with characteristically trenchant insight, The Cause marks the culmination of a lifetime of engagement with the founding era. A landmark work of narrative history, it challenges the story we have long told ourselves about our origins as a people, and as a nation. Source: Amazon Please buy local! Books available at Barrett Bookstore. Previous Next

Oil on canvas; 24 ¾” h. x 20 ¾” w. (sight size); circa 1854 < Back American School Portrait, Bertha Jemima Mather (1844-1899) First Floor - Parlor Fine Art Oil on canvas; 24 ¾” h. x 20 ¾” w. (sight size); circa 1854 Bertha Jemima (Walker) Mather as a girl of about 10 years old; with long brown ringlets, in a white lace gown, holding a bouquet of roses; in the left rear ground, a man on horseback and a sailboat. By family history, the portrait was cut down from a much larger work of Bertha with her four sisters. Good condition in spite of old relining; letter dated, February 19, 1965, from Margaret Watherston, NY, NY, (verso) describes cleaning and relining process. Previous Next

Our first Harvest Festival included pony rides, crafts, a hunt for the Mather silver, tours of the home and more. < Back Harvest Festival - November 8, 2017 Our first Harvest Festival included pony rides, crafts, a hunt for the Mather silver, tours of the home and more. Previous Next

Third annual Fall Harvest Festival! < Back Harvest Festival - November 2, 2019 Third annual Fall Harvest Festival! Previous Next

Good old fashioned games and competition in honor of Stephen Mather's birthday (July 4, 1867). And cake! < Back Mather Games - June 26, 2021 Good old fashioned games and competition in honor of Stephen Mather's birthday (July 4, 1867). And cake! Previous Next

MH flower arranging guru led guests through the creation of unique and beautiful spring centerpieces. < Back Flowers and Fun - April 1, 2021 MH flower arranging guru led guests through the creation of unique and beautiful spring centerpieces. Previous Next

Sizes range 11 ¾” h. – 7 ½” h.; early 20th century. < Back Three Painted Cast Iron Door Stops First Floor - Parlor Other Decorative Arts Sizes range 11 ¾” h. – 7 ½” h.; early 20th century. Images are flowers, basket, a pair of black kittens; one repainted, none marked. Previous Next

England, 1740-1770. Walnut, mirrored glass; pine gilding, original beveled glass. 41 5/8" h. x 15 ¾" w. < Back Looking or “Pier” Glass First Floor - Parlor Other Decorative Arts England, 1740-1770. Walnut, mirrored glass; pine gilding, original beveled glass. 41 5/8" h. x 15 ¾" w. The rectangular looking glass has an upper plate of mirrored glass that overlaps the top of the lower plate. Upper part of frame has a stepped ogee edge. A walnut-veneered scalloped crest with pierced central roundel containing a gilded foliate motif. Molded cross-banding surrounds glass, held in place by an inner carved and gilded edge. Backboards have been replaced, crest is repaired, but the original iron hanging sleeve remains in place; generally good condition given age, and of exceptional size. Previous Next

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson < Back Gordon Wood - April 24, 2019 Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Previous Next