It’s time to paint the Hyland House red. The nonprofit museum and historic home will host its first fundraising event in four years on Sunday, Sept. 25 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Branford’s Owenego Inn.

The event, dubbed “Time to Paint the House Red,” will feature dinner, drinks, jazz, and an art auction, according to Bob Donahue, president of the Hyland House Museum Board of Directors.

Fundraising for Hyland House projects had been put on hold, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Donahue said fundraising is critical to the museum’s future. Funds raised from the Sept. 25 event will be used to repair and repaint the 1713 saltbox home at 84 Boston Street.

“The pandemic really affected our ability to raise needed funds for our museum, so this event is very important to us as our beautiful house museum is in desperate need of clapboard repair and a fresh coat of paint,” Donahue said. “Our last fundraiser, held in 2018, was a huge success which allowed us to replace the existing roof of our museum, and we’re expecting our upcoming gala to be just as exciting. This is really the first funding event for the House since the pandemic, so it is an important one for us. We are also only open a short period during the year so we have a rather short window of getting the capability of being visible to the public.”

A non-profit museum since 1918, the Hyland House a historic house museum in Guilford named for George Hyland, the settler who purchased the land on which it stands in 1657. The two-story saltbox structure was built circa 1713 by Hyland’s son-in-law Isaac Parmelee.

The National Registry of Historic Places describes it as a “landmark building in the history of domestic architecture.” Some of the more notable homestead inhabitants included Ebeneezer Parmelee, a master clockmaker; and Candace, an enslaved woman for whom Guilford’s first Witness Stone was placed in the museum’s front walkway, said Donahue.

“The Hyland House has been a landmark for history and as an example of early American colonial life,” Donahue said. “We are the site where the very first Witness Stone was placed when we participated in that research related to the person Candance who was an enslaved member of the home. So, we continue to not only present the legacy of history but also to bring attention to these events and to new history as it is uncovered. Being able to present stories such as Candace’s, which have never previously been told is critical to our mission. It shows we are not just a stagnant museum we strive to be part of the community, we strive to uncover these important details of history, and continue to be a great representation architecturally as well as socially and culturally of the history of our community.”

Donahue said the museum is a rare gem both for Guilford and the shoreline as it the only area structure of that age preserved in its entirety as an original residence, with no additions, demolition, or systems installations.

“The Hyland is really the only museum that can boast the fact that…it is a true replica of what you would have seen in colonial times,” said Donahue. “The reason the house is so unique is that it is such an authentic treasure of what the house would have looked like in the colonial era. A lot of the other area houses and museums have been electrified, have sheet rock, and heating and cooling amenities, but this house has none of that. It is truly an historic structure.”

For more information and to purchase tickets for the Sept. 25 event, visit hylandhouse.org, search Hyland House Museum on Facebook, or email info@hylandhouse.org