Looking forward to 2026…

“This beautiful home is one of the best preserved we have ever visited. The tours offered truly set a new standard.”

We hear this these types of comments often from our guests, especially from the ones who tour many historic home on their travels. They tell us our museum compares favorably to other museums - whether its the Pabst in Milwaukee or even the Biltmore in Ashville (Hearthstone is more of a livable scale after all) - particularly on the way it is maintained and on the compelling stories we tell. With your help, we will continue to engage and entertain for decades to come.

In 2026, we will:

  • Celebrate America’s 250th birthday with special exhibits, tours, and events all summer long.

  • Expand Operation Everybody to additional AASD schools.

  • Finish “The Big Project” while continuing to provide our interns meaningful, real-world experience.

  • Join with the Outagamie County Master Gardener Association again to not only manage our beautiful front gardens but extend these efforts to our foundation plantings in the back yard.

  • Finish the restoration of the interior and exterior windows.

  • Apply much needed UV/IR resistant film to the interior side of all storm windows to protect all of the artifacts inside the museum from damaging UV light. The film will also help the museum stay cooler during hot summer days.

  • Overhaul our membership and donor systems by using a new program called “Zeffy” which will not only automate many of the renewal tasks but more importantly eliminate ALL CREDIT CARD CHARGES from ticket purchases, donations, and membership fees with no increase in cost to our supporters.

    • In other words, 100% of your donation comes to Hearthstone: You donate $100 and the museum receives $100, not $96 after fees are taken out.

    • This ZERO FEES approach means that neither to you nor Hearthstone are charged anything.

    • Keep an eye out for Zeffy no-fee charitable giving in your email in-box.

  • Expansion of our in-person and online programming to provide a variety of engaging opportunities to explore the many stories that we tell.

  • Production of regular e-newsletters filled with information ranging from programming to a breadth of topics exploring all aspects of Hearthstone’s history.

You can help Hearthstone prosper even further as we look to our new year.
Please consider donating to our upcoming Annual Fund.

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