Ethan Allen Homestead Museum and Historic Site

The experience was great. Great history and the guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and I learned a lot about the history of Ethan Allen and his wife. Beautiful location and the homestead is stunning.

Visited on a rainy day (they had loaner umbrellas to use) Watched a video in the visitor center and walked the grounds and saw the house with a volunteer tour guide. Was interesting to learn more about Ethan's life and how country living was done. Not an easy life!

Good old classic place in Vermont with history along the river. Lots of little trails for easy walking.

Very interesting films, tour and displays. Ethan Allen and his wife were fascinating, multifaceted people

Did tons of Vermont attractions on our recent trip, and this is a gem. Whole philosophy of history coming alive for visitors meticulously carried out, even with history facts about toilets... in the bathrooms! Tour guides and visitor center staff are excellent, welcoming, conversational, helpful. Unlike other museums, they escorted guests through a series of activities from ticketing to movies to guided walk to guided house tour back to welcome center - it felt like they cared about every aspect of the visit and let you know where to go. They also presented Ethan Allen as a full human being, flaws and heroism alike. Leave at least 2 hours - the tour shouldn't be rushed - no food on site (that I saw) so pack snacks.

My kids had mixed feelings about going here until we met our tour guide John!! He was amazing and has a great way of including the kiddos into the story. What a unique experience and look back into a piece of American history. Highly recommend!!! Easy to spend a couple hours here.

Really enjoyed learning all about the history of the area, which includes Ethan Allen and his friends and family! Wonderful tour - the guide was so knowledgeable and answered all our questions. Lots to see and learn at the Ethan Allen Homestead! The grounds have trails, gardens, several buildings to explore, etc. A fun and interesting stop for history buffs! There is a bathroom on sight, gift shop, and the museum itself is filled with interesting artifacts from the 1700s. We spent over an hour here and it was a rainy day so we could only see about half of the grounds and things to see... but it was still worth it!

A Remarkable Experience with Docent Kite at the Ethan Allen Homestead: Our visit to the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington, Vermont was truly elevated by the exceptional guidance of Kite, one of the museum’s most knowledgeable and engaging docents. Kite’s passion for history, combined with a warm and personable approach, created an unforgettable journey through the life and legacy of Ethan Allen. What made the experience especially unique was Kite’s captivating storytelling surrounding Frances “Fanny” Montresor Brush Buchanan Allen—Ethan Allen’s remarkable wife. With incredible depth and attention to detail, Kite brought Fanny’s story to life, highlighting her resilience, intellect, and the profound role she played in shaping the history of the homestead and early Vermont life. Her story is often overshadowed, but thanks to Kite, visitors gain a deeper, richer understanding of the Allen family and the complexities of the era. If you're planning a trip to the Ethan Allen Homestead, we highly recommend requesting Kite as your guide. Her ability to connect historical facts with humanity and heart makes for an experience that is both educational and deeply moving. This tour isn’t just a visit—it’s a step back into a beautifully told story.

Went here with my parents as part of our Vermont Vacation on August 27th 2023. We walked in and checked out the exhibits at the front near where we parked. Then we went in and just missed the tour of the homestead. However, Tom, who was really nice, and knew alot about history, took us to the current tour of the house. There is an admission fee for the tour, and i was lucky enough that i was given a student discount because i look young for my age. I appreciate that. Also the staff was very nice, all of them. Tom took us through to the house and told us about Ethan Allen, even told us about those beautiful flowers that one can freshly cut from the garden. Tom took us to our tour in the house, where a woman took over. Very interesting and very educational. i also enjoy history, so that is a plus. After the tour, we cut fresh flowers that were beautiful and lasted our whole vermont trip! Then we went inside and watched the movie about Ethan Allen. in the movie area, there is also dress up, and one can try to weave like in the days of when Ethan Allen was living. didn't try it, but it is so cool. highly recommend for any history buff, and my favorite tour guide was Tom. He seems to know his stuff, which is great, plus admire his energy! Oh and restrooms were very clean. Was a bit confusing at first because there is 2 gender neutral bathrooms, and i did a double take to make sure that i wasn't in the wrong place. all good though, just a little confusing, as other places don't have gender neutral bathrooms.

We really enjoyed our visit today to the Ethan Allen Homestead. Was amazed with the garden that was maintained by the director Dan and his passion for nature and Fanny and Ethan Allen and crew. Noah was a great guide full of interesting facts. The tour was of the homestead and history of the Ethan Allen family and their home and Vermont history. We spent about 11/2 hours here. Only about 2 miles from the Echo Museum.

Beautifully maintained historic landmark, home to the late Ethan Allen. This review is for the nature trail portion and not the home or museum. It's a peaceful place with fairly short shaded trails along the Winooski river. There's a canoe ramp and steps leading to the water. The trail splits at a fork and bikers must remain on the left trail. We went right and ended up at the Peninsula Loop. Turn around after that, there's nothing but a large wheat field with giant flies. These mutated, gargantuan flies will follow you for as long as they can and dodge any swatting you attempt to keep them out of your hair. Other than the pesky flies, it's a beautiful nature trail. For more trails nearby, check out the Ethan Allen Park. There's a playground and trails leading to the summit and tower with a view of the city.

Tour is educational and very informative. Maybe a little too educational. I found it a little boring - but overall a fun and interactive experience.

It was pouring rain when we did our tour, but we still enjoyed it. They offered those who came unprepared, an umbrella. We started in the gift shop area by looking at the artifacts and information on the walls. Then, we watched a 15 min video. Then, we went on a guided tour of Ethan Allen's home, by walking out the back door, down a path and the house was located behind the vc. The house was two stories with about 5 rooms. The tour explained 4 rooms and then we were free to explore upstairs (attic space generally). They also have gardens and apple trees on the property.

We took a day trip to the Homestead. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and the tour. The tour guide was interesting and obviously knew his business. We were treated to a very interesting day for sure. We ended with a ferry ride across Lake Champlain which took us into New York in about 15 minutes. If you like history I highly recommend this visit. I think the visitor will be quite surprised to learn about Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. It was not what I had thought. Enjoy!!

We had an excellent experience at this museum and homestead! We visited in August while passing through on a family road trip; this was one of our designated stops because our 10 year old son had just studied Ethan Allen during the school year. It was easy to find and set in a beautiful park with hiking trails along a river that we explored after our tour. Absolutely beautiful for those that are only interested in a walk in the woods, but don't miss out on learning about an interesting man that shaped U.S. history, either! There was ample parking and bathrooms available inside the building. We paid a nominal fee and explored two rooms of museum items with descriptions before watching a short film about Ethan Allen's life, then our tour guide Tom introduced himself and we began a walking tour of the grounds, gardens, and homestead. Let me just say here that Tom was not only very informative but hugely entertaining, we were all in stitches at his dry yet appropriate sense of humor; he was a total delight and the very opposite of boring in the way he described 18th century life. The tour was fascinating, fun for all ages and we all learned so much. Seriously, the guy could command a one man play about anything at all and I'd go see it numerous times, he was that good. And I should say here that he was a VOLUNTEER. Thank you, Tom! The homestead itself was filled with interesting artifacts, and being able to walk through it really brought the history to life, which was much appreciated. It doesn't matter that the homestead has been restored, moved, and contains probably little of the original contents; Tom explained they add historically appropriate items all the time, and we learned just as much. It's a total gem of a place to bring the kids. There was also an 18th century themed garden included on the tour as an example of how folks grew their own food, and we were encouraged to try beans off the vine. Back at the museum there was a small store with various items available. We appreciated that the nice man tending the museum store was so interested in talking with our son about his school's Wax Museum Day where he dressed up as Ethan and repeatedly performed a 30 second speech about Ethan's life for the school's younger grades. We showed the man our son's videotaped performance, and he was so impressed by our son's true to the times outfit as Ethan that he asked our permission to post his picture on the homestead's Instagram, which of course our son loved! This stop ended up being a highlight of our entire summer trip, and if we didn't live across the country we would surely return often. Definitely pay them a visit sometime!

One of the better historical sites that I've visited recently. The staff were knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. There is a great dress-up area for kids and in the summer they partner with the YMCA to offer nature camps - how cute! I loved exploring the homestead and learning lots more about Ethan Allen - one of America's founding patriots. Meticulously maintained and a must visit for any history buff.

I felt like I wasted my time with the tour. The guide seemed knowledgeable, but was kind of negative. In a nutshell, no one knows what Ethan Allen looked like, what his homestead looked like, and practically nothing at the museum is authentic. As on of my fellow tour-goers quipped, it's as though the local chamber of commerce decided it needed a historic site to raise revenue and just slapped this place together. Although the website states that the last tour is at 3:30pm, it actually starts at 3. Also, the gift shop and bathroom lights go off at 10 minutes to 4, not that there is much of anything in either.

For a historically significant place, it's not really easy to find. You have to be really looking, and if traffic had been bad, I would have had to pass some turns and turn around to find my way. It's not clear where the actual homestead is when you arrive. The audio/visual presentation is ok - but the sound quality was not the best, making it hard to make out the conversation which was presented in "colonial speak" to give an air of authenticity. Then a docent leads you to the actual homestead. The lady that was the docent for my tour was certainly passionate about Ethan Allen and loved her job but way too easily distracted away from the material at hand. She spend too much time on connecting the Allen family to current Burlington people, places or things. She encouraged questions but more often than not referred the visitor back to the historian who was manning the bookshop. The information provided about community gardening and the Winooski Park System was interesting and valuable, but she spend way too much time on it. The fellow in the bookstore was very knowledgeable and probably should be leading the tours. However, he is probably the brains on duty and had to be in charge of the important stuff - the stuff they can sell. I bought a pamphlet he suggested and enjoyed it. He encouraged purchasing a less expensive item than I was originally looking at which was nice. Big minus was his approximately three year old. He had brought a baby sitter to look after the child but he was distracted by them just outside the bookshop and the child was clearly bored and the babysitter wasn't pleased to be there either. This site needs better trained docents and a better paid bookstore manager. It has great potential - maybe they need to charge more for admission? Right now I wouldn't have paid more than the $7 they charged, but if they re-vamped the place ala some of the better historic attractions we have in Washington DC area, it would be worth paying more.

I love visiting interesting historical sites...you learn new things everytime!

If you are into history and heritage, then this place is for you. Located off the Beltway in Burlington. You'll find Ethan Allen's cabin and life back then which is well displayed and preserved inside the cabin.

This was a fantastic and inexpensive experience in Vermont. We learned all about the history and home of Ethan Allen. The property and weather were beautiful. We could not have asked for a better tour guide with Keith!