Roseland Cottage

Roseland Cottage ranks 3rd on the list of the best places to visit in Connecticut. Roseland Cottage, also known as The Pink House because of its distinctive color, was the summer home of Henry and Lucy Bowen and their young family. Bowen was a successful New York businessman who hosted a number of notable visitors, including four US presidents and other political figures.

With a steep roof, sharply pointed gables, and elaborate ornamental fretwork under the eaves, the house is an excellent example of the Gothic-Revival style popular in the mid-1840s. The interior is equally ornately decorated in Victorian style, with pocket doors, patterned carpets, wallcoverings that resemble tooled leather, and diamond-pane windows with stained-glass inserts.

The carriage barn houses the country's oldest surviving indoor bowling alley, and the house overlooks a parterre garden with 600 yards of boxwood hedge encircling 21 beds of perennials and colorful annuals. The house and gardens are designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Google rating: 4.7/5.0

Address: 556 Route 169, Woodstock, Connecticut

Phone: +1 860-928-4074

Website: historicnewengland.org/property/roseland-cottage/