The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House, known as Forty Acres, is an 18th-century farm on the banks of the Connecticut River that today interprets life in rural New England over three centuries. Through the words, spaces, and possessions of the women and men who lived here, the Museum portrays the activities of a prosperous and productive 18th-century farmstead. Members of this household along with numerous artisans, servants, and slaves made "Forty Acres" an important social and commercial link in local, regional, and national cultural and economic networks. Throughout the 19th century the family transformed the estate into a rural retreat. In the 20th century the house was preserved as a museum by family members and now contains the possessions of six generations of this extended family. The house was built in 1752 by Moses and Elizabeth Porter on a tract of land known as “Forty Acres and its skirts.” These acres had been owned in common by the householders in the northeast quarter of the stockaded town of Hadley when it was laid out in 1659. After the Porter's only child, Elizabeth, married Charles Phelps in 1770, the house was enlarged and refined. The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House is open for the 2022 season through October 15. The museum is open Saturday and Sunday with tours on the hour at 1, 2, and 3 pm. For information on tours and special programs, please call the staff during the afternoons at (413) 584-4699. Admission to the house is $5.00 for adults, $1.00 for children under twelve. A guided tour takes approximately one hour.
