Shelburne Museum

Description:

• Established in 1947 by Electra Havenmeyer Webb, the museum contains one of the nation's most singular collections of American decorative, folk, and fine art. The Shelburne occupies some 37 buildings spread over 45 rolling acres, just 7 miles south of Burlington. No less than the New York Times has opined, "There is nothing like Shelburne in the museum universe," and Shelburne's holdings of some 150,000 items certainly testify to that. As expected, some of the more mundane exhibits chronicle quilts, early tools, decoys, weather vanes, and the like; but the museum also collects and displays entire buildings from around New England and New York, including an 1890-vintage railroad station, a lighthouse, a stagecoach inn, an Adirondack lodge, and a round barn from Vermont. Even a 220-foot steamship is eerily landlocked on the museum's grounds. Additions over the years include a wonderful 1950s ranch house (furnished in period style) and an architecturally engaging Collector's House, made creatively of prefab metal structures and other materials and featuring folk art displays. Rotating special exhibits periodically highlight particular aspects of Americana such as Shaker design, African-American quilting, and the art of John James Audubon.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010