Our Story


Loja Saarinen standing at the loom in her Weaving Room at nearby Studio Loja Saarinen on Academy Way, circa 1930. Photography by Hermann for The Detroit News; Courtesy Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Eanger Irving Couse painting with a model. Photograph courtesy of The Couse Foundation.
A 1934 photo showing 10 members of The Taos Society of Artists in the Couse Garden. Back row from left: Walter Ufer, “Buck” Dunton, Victor Higgins, Kenneth Adams; Seated from left: E. Martin Hennings, Bert Geer Phillips, E.I. Couse, Oscar Berninghaus; Kneeling from left: JH Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein. Photograph courtesy of The Couse Foundation.
Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L. K. Morris. Photograph courtesy of Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio.
Pan Garden with Augutus, Homer, and Marie Saint-Gaudens and Seasick, the goat. Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park Archive.
Clementine Hunter in front of the African House at Melrose Plantation. Photograph courtesy of Melrose on the Cane (Melrose Plantation).
Margaret French Cresson in the Chesterwood studio, posing as Evangeline as her father works on the Longfellow Memorial. Photograph Courtesy of Chesterwood.
Daniel Chester French at work on the clay model of Ambrose Swasey, 1922. Photogarph courtesy of Chapin Library, Williams College, Gift of the National Trust for Historic Preservation/Chesterwood.
Wharton Esherick and Bill McIntyre in the Workshop. Photo by Robert Laurer, 1958, courtesy of the Wharton Esherick Museum.
Mabel D’Amico was an avid gardener whose artistic process “sometimes you make it happen, other times you let it happen” also applied to her gardening style. Photograph courtesy of Mabel & Victor D’Amico Studio and Archive.
Courtesy of Pasaquan, Columbus State University.
Norman Rockwell in his Stockbridge Studio. Photograph by Bill Scovill, courtesy Norman Rockwell Museum.
Donald Judd and others at 101 Spring Street. © Judd Foundation.
Rockwell Kent standing in the doorway of a house he built on Monhegan. Circa 1907. Mary Kelsey Album, MMAH, Gift of Lois Herndon, 1992.
An image of the Dove/Torr Cottage from 1938. Courtesy of The Heckscher Museum of Art.
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, in a photograph by Hans Namuth, 1950. Courtesy of Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center.
Russel Wright and stone workers creating the terraces for Dragon Rock House, ca 1960. Courtesy Manitoga / The Russel Wright Design Center.
Black and White photo of Sam Maloof sitting on logs in the Courtyard of the Historic Home. Credit: Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.
Interior of Elisabet Ney’s Formosa Studio in Austin, Texas. The Elisabet Ney Museum, portrait of Elisabet Ney. Courtesy of the Elisabet Ney Museum.
Adelia Lutz painting in Westwood Studio ca. 1900. Credit: Knox Heritage, Inc.
Elisabet Ney and the Bickler Family in front of her Formosa Studio in Austin, Texas in 1895. The Elisabet Ney Museum, portrait of Elisabet Ney. Courtesy of the Elisabet Ney Museum.
Depicts Polasek in one of his most important roles, that of an educator. Courtesy Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens.
Polasek working on a small sculpture in his Winter Park, studio, c. 1964. His artwork fills the studio/salon. Courtesy Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens.
The Bentons loved playing music with friends. Tom and his daughter Jessie are sitting on the floor playing harmonica. His son, T.P., is playing flute, and his wife, Rita, is second from right playing guitar. Courtesy of Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio State Historic Site.
The entire Benton family pictured in their garden. From left to right: T.P., the beloved family dog, Jake, Jessie, Rita, and Tom. Courtesy of Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio State Historic Site.
The Weir family in front of the Weir House in Branchville, Ridgefield, CT in October 1901. Credit: NPS Photo.
Courtesy of the C.M. Russell Museum.
E. Alice Austen, [Alice Austen, Gertrude Tate and Friends at Twilight Rest Resort, Catskills, NY], 1899. Collection of the Alice Austen House.
Lyme Art Colony artists playing horseshoes at Miss Florence Griswold’s boardinghouse. Photo credit Florence Griswold Museum.
Marguerite Wildenhain on a hillside above Pond Farm (visible in the distance) with her students and some of her pots. Credit: Otto Hagel, 1950s, © 1998 courtesy of the Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona Foundation.

The Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program grew out of a 1993 initiative proposed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to reach out to those stewarding historic sites throughout the country and to provide information on preservation and collaborative opportunities. The Trust sought to connect with places that were not directly under its portfolio of historic sites but that were, nonetheless, doing the important work of preserving America’s cultural and built heritage. They believed that organizations could be linked thematically, and then work together to share experiences and find solutions to common challenges, to achieve long-term results.

With initial support from the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, the Historic Sites Department at the National Trust completed a feasibility study in 1997 and began the pilot phase of the HAHS program in the fall of 1999. In support of that effort, the Henry Luce Foundation awarded the National Trust a substantial grant to establish the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios test group. This 18-month initiative focused on identifying and helping select American art-related historic sites preserve, document and interpret their buildings and collections.

Art breaks the barriers of language, race and creed. It is an international language. 

– Mabel D’Amico

The Trust already owned and operated the property of one American artist: Chesterwood, the home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French in Stockbridge, MA. Alongside Chesterwood, a group of art-related historic sites was identified, an initial coalition of twenty sites was formed, and the network officially launched in 2000.

HAHS was designed as a fee-based membership program, to which sites would apply and be accepted through peer review.  From its beginning, the program’s core goals have been to encourage peer collaboration and professional development; increased visibility through cross-promotional marketing and publicity; and access to professional information, technical workshops and dialogue.

In the ensuing twenty-five years, HAHS has grown to include more than sixty sites across the country, each of which commemorates an artist (or a group of artists) and preserves and interprets their working environment. Now an ongoing program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, HAHS has expanded its work to include grants and professional development workshops for its membership, as well as diverse public programming and international collaborations.  

HAHS representatives at the East Hampton workshop in 2009.

Today, Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios, is an ever-growing, high-performing, dynamic coalition of public sites that were all once the homes and studios of American artists. Together, they tell a unique and site-specific story of our nation’s art history by preserving and interpreting the personal places where art was made and serving as generators of new ideas, experiences, and artistic legacies.

These places and artistic legacies are shared with more than one and a half million visitors annually, inspiring audiences through access to on-site experiences, outreach, and virtual and in-person programming.            

Our membership includes 61 sites in 25 states from Maine to California. These sites represent artists as diverse as Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole to Modernist icon Georgia O’Keeffe to sculptor Donald Judd and conceptual artist David Ireland to decorative arts creatives such as ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain and furniture designer Sam Maloof. Many of these artists designed their own homes and landscapes, immersing today’s visitors in holistic, unforgettable expressions of creativity. Many are small, private non-profit entities, who benefit from HAHS’ collective knowledge and resources, although some are owned by larger art museums or city, state, and national government agencies.

Saarinen House is an unassuming brick rowhouse located at the heart of Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Photography by James Haefner, 2017; Courtesy Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
The Dining Room of the Couse House has all the original furnishings. Photograph courtesy of The Couse Foundation.
Thomas & Mary Nimmo Moran Home & Studio. Photograph by Jeff Heatley, courtesy East Hampton Historical Society.
Aspet’s Formal Gardens in summer bloom with a view of Mt. Ascutney. Photograph by Don Freeman, courtesy NPS.
Photograph courtesy of Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio.
Detail from the interior of Clementine Hunter’s home. Photograph courtesy of Melrose on the Cane (Melrose Plantation).
View of the Burchfield Homestead. Courtesy of The Burchfield Homestead Society.
Ann Norton’s Artist Studio east side landscape angle. Photograph courtesy of Ann Norton Sculpture Garden.
Explore the garden paths at Gari Melchers Home and Studio that Mrs. Melchers cultivated to combine aesthetics with historic features. Photograph by K. Pearlman, courtesy of Gari Melchers Home and Studio.
Edward Hopper’s bedroom-studio. Photographs by Will Ellis, courtesy of the Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center.
Interior view of N.C. Wyeth’s studio. Photo courtesy of the Brandywine Museum of Art
Living room in James and Janie Washington’s home. Flyright Productions photograph, courtesy of the Dr. James & Janie Washington Cultural Center.
The profusion of lilacs planted along the front of the Bush-Holley House date to the Art Colony era, when they provided shade and inspiration for the artists. Photograph courtesy of Greenwich Historical Society.
Photo courtesy of Portland Museum of Art, Maine.
Small sculptures and maquettes dot the shelves of the Studio’s main gallery. Photo courtesy of the Wharton Esherick Museum.
Photograph courtesy of Mabel & Victor D’Amico Studio and Archive.
Courtesy of Pasaquan, Columbus State University.
Sitting room at Georgia O’Keeffe’s Abiquiu Home and Studio. Photograph by Krysta Jabczenski. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Alice Austen’s Clear Comfort, 2015. Courtesy Alice Austen House. Photograph © Floto + Warner.
The interior of Olana State Historic Site. Photograph by Peter Aaron/OTTO.
Statue of Jefferson Davis on view in the Valentine Museum, originally sculpted by Edward Valentine and displayed on Monument Avenue from 1907 to 2020. Credit: ©Julie Rendleman, 2022.
Courtesy Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, East Hampton, NY.
Golden poppies abloom in the Museum’s Wild Gardens. It is the state flower of California and abundant in Mendocino County. Photo Credit: David Burton 2019.
The Dining room looking into the Sitting Room in the Historic Home of Sam and Alfreda Maloof. Credit: Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.
Westwood art studio. Credit: © Mike O’Neill Photography, 2022.
Dining room of the Roger Brown Study Collection. Photograph by Bill Bengtson. Courtesy of the Roger Brown Study Collection of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Albin Polasak Museum and Sculpture Garden in Winter Park, Florida. Courtesy Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens.
Interior photo of Russell’s log studio where the artist completed the majority of his works during his lifetime. Great Falls, MT. Photo credit: C.M. Russell Museum.
View of upstairs hallway with Three-Legged Chair (1978) and Delection (1980), 1981; photo: Henry Bowles; image courtesy of The 500 Capp Street Foundation.
Samantha Rose Photography © 2019. Courtesy of Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.
Kirkland Museum Italian Modern Vignette featuring the Bocca Sofa/Marilyn Lips Sofa (1970–1972) designed by Studio65. Photo by Wes Magyar.
Living room with works from the collection, third floor, the Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation. Credit © Elizabeth Felicella, 2018.

HAHS also includes several important artists’ colonies that were the creative hubs for hundreds of artists, and coincide with major art movements in the country, such as American Impressionism, Modernism, and Studio Craft. HAHS members include properties devoted to artists of the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, who worked in a wide variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, furniture design, and more.  

In close alignment with the priorities of the National Trust, HAHS is continuing to make major strides toward a more inclusive roster of sites representing the stories of people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous, self-taught, and women artists. For example, sites associated with African American artists Noah Purifoy and James W. Washington, Jr; self-taught, deaf artist James Castle; and visionary artist Eddie Owens Martin are now part of HAHS.   

HAHS is dedicated to bringing all these rich stories to a wider public audience, while also supporting its members. We connect member sites to one another, to visitors, and to experts throughout the world. HAHS has also become an international model and benchmark for similar organizations abroad.

Art is in all of us, not in equal amounts, but it’s there. From the cradle to the grave it’s there. We need to recognize that. 

– Noah Purifoy

HAHS works together with its membership to promote artists’ homes to public audiences as a special genre of museums, where anyone can learn about power of place and artistic inspiration.  As one member observed, HAHS is an “invaluable brain trust” that “stands out from other associations that don’t speak to the particularities of our situation.”

As a collective, HAHS believes that creativity lies in all of us, no matter who we are, what age we are, or what our life experiences have been – and that HAHS sites have the power to inspire and ignite that creativity through the power of place. 

If you want to know more about our work and impact click here.

If you are interested in furthering the work of HAHS through a financial donation, please visit our Support Page.