A 375th Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Connecticut! You don't look a day over – 375.

About 200 organizations and attractions - from Wilton to Willimantic - opened their doors Saturday to mark the year Thomas Hooker settled Connecticut in 1635. It was the Fifth Annual Connecticut Open House Day, a one day, statewide celebration of art, history, film and tourism.

The Wilton Historical Society welcomed the first 100 visitors free of charge. People got to watch the blacksmith at work and a large collection of  Currier & Ives prints. Visitors at the historical society also enjoyed tours through the period rooms, from the 1740s-era kitchen to the 1820s-era parlor.

"It's decorated like something out of an Austin novel," said docent Barbara Rempfer as she led a group through the parlor. "They didn't like it if the furniture matched and there were always a lot of things going on in the parlor."

A sewing basket in one corner appeared to await the deft hands of a woman in conversation. And the polished Muzio Clementi piano seemed to expect playing hands. The Gumby-green trim on the parlor's walls accented the red floral carpet.

"They loved bright, weird colors because they're homes were so dark," Rempfer said.

Upstairs Arlene Parkhurst gave visitors a brief tutorial in spinning and weaving. During the winter the men set looms up in a bedroom. And they, not the women, did most of the weaving.

There was a yearly quota as to how much each household spun, Parkhurst said, as she spun charcoal grey fleece collected from Ambler Farm.

"Three pounds of wool, linen or cotton every week for 40 weeks a year while we under rule of the British Crown," Parkhurst said. "The taxman checked on it each year. And we, Connecticut, got very good at it."

Over at the Weir Farm National Historic Site, visitors wandered inside a brand-new artist's studio. There they could roll back the years and peer into an historic artist's home.

The park recently completed the Artist-In-Residence Studio. It was designed to maximize the Weir Farm light and landscape for the many artists who live and work on site every year.

Faesy-Smith Architects of Wilton designed studio, donated in part to the National Park Service from the park's long-time partner, the Weir Farm Art Center.

Visitors got a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the National Park Service is actively restoring and preserving Connecticut's only national park.