originally published: 03/01/2026
William Paca House
(PRINCETON, NJ) — Morven Museum & Garden’s popular speaker series Grand Homes & Gardens returns for 2026. Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes and Gardens examines four estates belonging to five signers of the Declaration: William Paca, Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Thomas Jefferson, and Arthur Middleton.
Illustrated presentations by speakers from each site will offer insight into how architecturally significant homes, gardens, and landscapes of the time were designed and built. At the same time, about two thirds of the Declaration’s signers were enslavers and these estates were all sites of American slavery. How were ideas of independence and autonomy woven into these spaces? How have they engaged and challenged founding ideals of freedom and liberty? Participants will learn how experts work today to tell the full story of these homes and their place in America’s founding. Join Morven, a museum set in the home of a signer, as we travel around the original thirteen colonies for a journey through architecture, design, gardening, and social history of the eighteenth century. The series includes:
* March 5: William Paca’s Annapolis House with Glenn Campbell, Historian Emeritus, Historic Annapolis
* March 12: Stratford Hall (the Virginia home of Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee) with Dr. Gordon Blaine Steffey, Director of Research and the Jessie Ball duPont Memorial Library
* March 26: Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden with Peter Hatch, Gardener, Historian, and Emeritus Director of Garden and Grounds for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation
* April 16: Middleton Place (the South Carolina home of Arthur Middleton) with Brandon Stone, Director Research and Preservation.
All programs are hybrid, with both in-person and virtual options. Participants can choose to attend individual events or to purchase the full series and save on tickets. Each program takes place Thursdays at 6:30pm in Morven’s Stockton Education Center. For in-person ticketholders, doors open at 6:00pm for light refreshments.
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The 2026 Grand Homes and Gardens speaker series is sponsored by Bryn Mawr Trust. Individual programs sponsors are Mrs. G Appliances, Studio Hillier and Corcoran Sawyer Smith.
Middleton Place
Tickets: $125 in-person/full series; $60 virtual/full series; $40 in-person/single program; $20 virtual/single program. Student discounts are available. Register at morven.org/signature/grandhomes
Most historic sites celebrate a single notable resident—Morven is different. Built in the 1750s for Richard Stockton (a signer of the Declaration of Independence) and his wife, Annis Boudinot Stockton, an early published poet, Morven was home to five generations of the Stockton family as well as generations of enslaved men and women and later, immigrant servants. The twentieth century saw the innovative industrialist and humanitarian Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. and five New Jersey governors.. Over 250+ years, its walls have witnessed the lives of governors, political leaders, celebrities, and everyday families alike.
Today, Morven Museum & Garden welcomes visitors to explore this layered history through exhibitions, programs, and historic gardens. The museum, located at 55 Stockton Street in Princeton, New Jersey, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. The gardens are open daily until dusk.
New Jersey Stage provides affordable advertising for the arts, click here for info
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