Currier Museum of Art and the Zimmerman House

The Currier was founded in the early twentieth century through a bequest from former New Hampshire governor Moody Currier and his wife, and opened its doors in 1929. Over the decades it built a collection notable for both quality and range, with European paintings, a strong showing of American art, and significant holdings in American decorative arts and glass.

The museum's scale is part of its charm. Rather than the overwhelming acreage of a major-city museum, the Currier offers a focused, beautifully installed collection you can absorb in an afternoon, with room to actually stand before individual works rather than filing past them in a crowd.

In the late 1940s a Manchester physician, Isadore Zimmerman, and his wife Lucille commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design them a home. The result, completed in the early 1950s, is a Usonian house, Wright's vision of an affordable, well-designed home for middle-class Americans, built low and horizontal of brick and cypress, with an open plan and a deep connection to its garden.

Wright designed nearly everything, from the furniture and textiles to the mailbox and the garden layout, so the house is a total work of art. The Zimmermans left it to the Currier on the condition it be preserved, and the museum has kept it intact, offering guided tours that let visitors experience a complete Wright interior exactly as it was lived in.

Together the museum and the house tell a fuller story of Manchester than either alone. The Currier grew out of the wealth and civic ambition of the mill city that built the great Amoskeag yard nearby, an assertion that a manufacturing town deserved great art.

The Zimmerman House, meanwhile, represents the mid-century optimism of a professional couple who wanted their ordinary lives shaped by extraordinary design. Visiting both in one trip pairs a grand civic institution with an intimate private masterpiece, both within a few minutes of each other.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The Currier Museum of Art, in Manchester, New Hampshire, is a distinguished art museum with an outstanding collection, and it is also the caretaker of the Zimmerman House, a rare Frank Lloyd Wright home in the region open for tours. The museum's collection spans European and American art, from paintings and sculpture to decorative arts, with works by many renowned artists. The Zimmerman House, designed by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his Usonian style and offered as a guided tour through the museum, is the only Wright-designed house in New Hampshire open to the public. Together they offer a rich blend of fine art and architecture. With its collection and Wright house, the Currier Museum of Art offers a fascinating destination in New Hampshire.

You can view the museum's outstanding collection of European and American art, including paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts by many renowned artists, along with rotating special exhibitions, and, on a separate guided tour, visit the nearby Zimmerman House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The distinguished art collection, the rotating exhibitions, and the rare chance to tour a Frank Lloyd Wright house are the highlights, offering both fine art and remarkable architecture. The Wright house tour is a special draw. With its collection and the Zimmerman House, the Currier Museum of Art offers a rewarding visit in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The Zimmerman House, a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home, is toured through the Currier Museum of Art, which offers guided tours to the house, typically departing from the museum, since the house is a preserved historic residence in a neighborhood. Because tours run on a schedule, often require advance reservation, and may have age or group limits, checking the current tour schedule and booking ahead before you go is important. It is the only Wright house in New Hampshire open to the public. Planning ahead for the guided tour ensures the chance to experience the Zimmerman House through the Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire.

As an indoor museum, the Currier Museum of Art is enjoyable year-round in any weather, making it a great stop in any season, while Zimmerman House tours run on a seasonal schedule that should be checked and reserved ahead. It can be busier on weekends and around special exhibitions. Checking current museum hours and Zimmerman House tour times before you go is wise. Because it is indoors, the Currier Museum of Art makes a rewarding stop any time of year, with the Zimmerman House tour a special addition, in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The Currier Museum of Art and the Zimmerman House are in Manchester, New Hampshire, within reach of the Amoskeag Millyard and Millyard Museum, the SEE Science Center, Bear Brook State Park, and Concord with the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center. That makes the Currier Museum of Art a fascinating stop to combine with the Amoskeag Millyard, the SEE Science Center, and the other attractions of the Manchester area on a visit to New Hampshire.