Visit

The Westport Historical Society invites you to visit the circa 1713 Handy House, located at 202 Hix Bridge Road.

Open every Wednesday and Saturday from June 25 through September 20, 2025

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Admission is free.

Continue to click through the pages to learn more about this special house as well as upcoming events to be held there.

Admission is free. The Handy House is located at 202 Hix Bridge Road, Westport.

In many ways, the home on Hix Bridge Road will be a unique experience for visitors, quite unlike what some may expect when visiting a historic house.

Far from being an overly restored historic house frozen in time, the Handy House will provide the visitor with an experience of discovery. The public will not encounter rooms full of rare and valuable antiques, but instead, experience ever-changing “windows” into the town’s past.

The Handy House has been left mostly unfurnished so that visitors can view the walls, floors, windows, doors, hinges, moldings, plaster, and other parts of its structure. Inside, visitors can discover the secrets of this architectural marvel that includes an 18^th century house buried within a Georgian style house from 1790, buried within a Federal-style 1830s structure.

For those who are curious to know what lies behind the shingles, beneath the plaster, under the floor boards, or for those who want to try to solve the secrets of this architectural puzzle, we have opened “windows” in the walls and floors that contain the keys to evolution of the house.

The Handy House is not the home of a famous person – George Washington did not sleep here! Yet the stories of the people who lived in the house provide an extraordinary look into a world of ordinary lives of Westporters otherwise lost to history. Visitors will discover how the residents shaped the house and how they were changed by the world around them.

Events 2025

Special exhibition: Lives on the Land

Lives on the Land: An exhibition highlighting the stories of Westport’s farming families

This exhibition focuses on the 20^th century, an era that began with 400 farms and ended with fewer than 30 farms. This is not just a story of potatoes, cows, turnips and chickens, but also a topic that connects people of diverse origins — Portuguese, French Canadian, Polish, Scots, and early English settlers — as well as highlighting an extraordinary example of a farm owned and operated by a Native American family throughout the 19th and most of the 20th century.

Kids Make History!

10 AM – 1 PM Wednesdays in July/August

Handy House

Drop in for some creative crafts and family fun! Make a corn husk doll, create a sunprint, scavenger hunt and take an adventure along the Heritage Trail. FREE.

Cyanotype Workshop

10 AM – 2 PM Wednesday July 30, 2025

(rain date Thursday July 31, 2025)

$60 per student, pre-register at this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cyanotype-workshop-tickets-1388216525999?aff=oddtdtcreator

Tina Tryforos is a photographer and educator, specializing in the historic photographic process of cyanotypes, the Prussian blue image invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel. Students will learn how to set up a cyanotype exposure, potential materials such as using natural materials to tone cyanotypes, how to safely develop a cyanotype in water, and how to intensify the image. Students will be provided with handouts with recipes and tips. All supplies will be provided. Maximum of 12 students. $60 per student,

Milk Bottle Collector’s Day

(and agricultural whatsits)

10 AM – 1 PM, Saturday August 2, 2025

Calling all milk bottle collectors! Local collectors (Westport/Dartmouth and surrounding towns) of vintage milk bottles are invited to gather at the Handy House to share information about their collection and to meet others who share their interests. Bojuma, Small’s, and Broadbent are just a few of the Westport dairies that are represented by milk bottles. View the collection of milk bottles gathered by the Westport Historical Society, on show as part of “Lives on the Land: Westport’s Farming Families.” Bring along dairy memorabilia and related agricultural items and mystery objects (whatsits) too! If you wish to display a collection, please bring your own table. Tent will be provided. FREE.

Handy House Artisan Fair and Vintage Market 10 AM – 3 PM

Saturday September 20, 2025

(rain date Sunday Sep 21)

202 Hix Bridge Road, Westport MA

Handy House Artisan Fair, organized by the Westport Historical Society, showcases 30 local craftspeople who specialize in skills and traditional crafts commonly practiced in the 18^th and 19^th century.

Traditional craftsmanship, from blacksmithing to green woodworking, is still very much alive in Westport. The Artisan Fair offers a rare opportunity to meet these craftspeople, learn about their skilled hand work and human powered technologies through hands on demonstrations. Some artisans will have their work for sale, so it will also be a chance to get a jumpstart on holiday shopping! This event not only preserves and perpetuates knowledge about traditional crafts, but is also an opportunity for the community to reconnect to its own history, to visit the Handy House and to celebrate the special heritage of the town of Westport.