Varnum House Museum

11/09/2025

VISIT THE VARNUMS ON VETERANS DAY (Tues., 11/11) for open house tours at the Varnum Armory Museum and Varnum House Museum! Located within walking distance of each other, visit to see rare historic artifacts pertaining to both wartime and peacetime in America. FB event links below. These open house events are free, but donations are appreciated!

Varnum Armory Museum Open House:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1Pav5TU6M1/

Varnum House Museum Open House:
https://www.facebook.com/share/16M5aEyy2R/

10/30/2025

Yesterday, the Varnum House Museum hosted a special private tour for two direct descendants of Joseph Bradley Varnum, the brother to James Mitchell Varnum (who built the Varnum House in 1773). Our guests are also directly related to Amy Varnum, who donated numerous 18th-century artifacts (and items belonging to James Mitchell Varnum) to the Varnum House when it was originally founded as a museum by the Varnum Continental Ladies.

It's always fun hosting tours for Varnum family descendants!

10/24/2025

Just because the weather has turned chilly doesn't mean we've stopped work on the Varnum House Museum's Historic Preservation Gardens!

New additions to our agricultural family include three newly planted saplings from The American Chestnut Foundation. Specifically, these American Chestnut are cross-hybridized with the blight-resistant Asian species. This will help them resist the deadly blight that did so much damage to this iconic species starting in the late 1800s (and still exists today).

The Varnum House Museum is proud to collaborate with the American Chestnut Foundation towards returning the iconic American chestnut to its native range. We'll keep you updated on our progress!

10/15/2025

Following our successful "Plein Air Painting Day" at the Varnum House Museum, we'd like to make use of those good vibes and ask that you help more people find the Varnum House via Google Reviews. Posting a Google Review takes moments. You can write just a sentence or give us a star review. Follow this link or scan the QR code with your phone.

https://g.page/r/CWdBUKSRFljLEBM/review

10/14/2025

(SET 2 of 2) Here's the second set of "Plein Air Painting Day" images we shot at the Varnum House Museum on Saturday! We love that this event attracts so much positive attention to the Varnum House.

We greatly appreciate the participation of The The Ladies of the Greene, Kentish Guards Fife & Drum Corps, and Varnum's Historic Regiment (East Greenwich, RI), who posed throughout the day. We also thank Urban Sketchers Rhode Island for spreading the word about this event.

10/13/2025

(SET 1 of 2) We had a fantastic "Plein Air Painting Day" and Open House at the Varnum House Museum on Saturday! This event always attracts a lot of attention from neighbors, visitors, and walkers passing by the house.

We also really lucked out with the weather. It was a beautiful warm day that was perfect for painting and sketching. We hosted numerous local artists of all ages! We greatly appreciate the participation of The Ladies of the Greene , Kentish Guards Fife & Drum Corps , and Varnum's Historic Regiment (East Greenwich, RI) , who posed throughout the day. We also thank Urban Sketchers Rhode Island for spreading the word about this event.

10/11/2025

Thank you Massart Photography for posting these great images of today's "Plein Air Painting Day" today at the Varnum House Museum!

10/11/2025

Painting En Plein Air at the Varnum House Museum I couldn't think of a more beautiful view from our window. We are so grateful

10/03/2025

Join us tomorrow at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in East Greenwich for “Forgotten Founders: The Underwritten of the American Revolution”, a day of local history lectures focusing on the unsung and underwritten heroes of the American Revolution. We've got a great lineup of expert speakers and we'd love to see you there! Follow the link to check out the program of events!

If you can't attend in person, we have Zoom tickets available! We can also accommodate ticket purchases at the door.

Discover the unsung heroes of the American Revolution at Forgotten Founders - a deep dive into the underappreciated figures of our nation's