September 13, 2025: Antique Quilts and the Stories they Tell
The Hyland House Museum wishes to thank The Guilford Foundation in partnership with Ascend Bank for the sponsorship award of $620 for the Quilt Show event held on September 13th, 2025. The event was a fundraiser for the Hyland House Museum, and included a lecture by Pam Weeks, curator of the New England Quilt Museum, and a tour of the museum, including its antique quilt collection.
Thank you to The Guilford Foundation and Ascend Bank for supporting the Hyland House in its mission to preserve and share Guilford’s rich history and inspire the ongoing stewardship of that legacy.
An Update to our Security System
The Hyland House Museum wishes to thank the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with Preservation Connecticut for the grant award of $1,213 for the installation of a new security system for the museum. The Hyland House has a considerable collection of colonial furniture and artefacts, and it is important that the security system is functional and up to date with the latest technology. This grant enabled the museum to modernize and improve its existing security system.
Thank you to the 1772 Foundation and Preservation Connecticut for investing in the future of the Hyland House and its place in Guilford history.
June 2024: Hyland House Vintage and Retro Market
On a beautiful sunny weekend in June, the Hyland House held its first Antiques Fair for ten years, reimagined as a Vintage and Retro Antiques Market, at the Guilford Fairgrounds. It was a great success, with 45 antiques/vintage dealers and over 1,400 attendees. Read what the Antiques and the Arts Weekly newsletter said about the market here:
May 2024: Award from The Guilford Foundation
The Board of Trustees of the Hyland House Museum wishes to thank The Guilford Foundation for its generous award of $3,000. This was awarded to help the museum attract and train new docents, thereby making the museum more accessible to Guilford residents and summer tourists. The award will also help enhance our Early Guilford Days program, when the museum hosts the 4th grade students from all four Guilford elementary schools every May. The students spend a full day learning about everyday life in Colonial New England. The award will help us to provide hearth cooking demonstrations for the students.
Through this award, The Guilford Foundation is helping the Guilford community, young and old, to learn of Guilford’s history and the story of the Hyland House over the last 300 years. Thank you!
January 2024: Hyland House Museum Receives $26,000 in ARPA Funding
The Hyland House Museum is happy to announce that we have been awarded $26,000 in ARPA (American Recovery Plan Act) funding, and are grateful to the Town of Guilford, in partnership with The Guilford Foundation, for managing this allocation in a fair and methodical way. We would like to thank First Selectman Matt Hoey and the Board of Selectman for their vision and generosity in allocating this ARPA funding for nonprofit recovery from COVID-19, and The Guilford Foundation for managing the process, so demonstrating the value that charitable organizations play in the Guilford community.
The Hyland House Museum was built in the early 1700’s and is an important part of Guilford history. The Museum provides both community and educational events, as well as holding an annual fundraiser to provide the necessary funds to keep the museum functioning. The Board and many volunteers ensure that this precious asset to the community is maintained and improved. Due to the inability to hold any fundraisers in 2020 or 2021 there were critical repairs that were unable to be funded. These included replacing timbers, clapboards and other affected wooden elements that had been damaged by powder post beetles, woodpeckers and rot over the years. We then needed to paint the house to preserve its structure and appearance. This award will enable the Hyland House Museum to ensure the integrity of the building, and to continue its critical role as a teaching tool and resource for the community.
The allocation of $1 million of ARPA funding to nonprofit organizations demonstrates the value and role that these organizations, and their volunteers play in the Guilford community.
We thank the town, First Selectman Matt Hoey, and The Guilford Foundation for the work that was done to review the many requests. We look forward to The Hyland House Museum continuing to host Early Guilford Days and other events, ensuring its place in the history of Guilford, and remaining an integral part of the Guilford community. Thank you!
The Hyland House Museum 