The Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm is open for drop-in tours starting Saturday, March 1st!
Tour the Van Hoosen Farmhouse on Fridays and Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Travel through time in our exhibits.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Museum encompasses 16 acres of historic buildings, gardens, houses, barns, children’s garden, historic landscape, and a schoolhouse. The area was settled in 1823 by the Lemuel Taylor family. After Sarah Taylor married Joshua Van Hoosen the farm named changed. Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen, a renowned surgeon grew up here and practiced medicine from the family home. Dr. Sarah Van Hoosen Jones bred world class Holstein cattle on the farm and travelled internationally – their home is filled with antiques from their trips. On several weekends each year the 1848 Stoney Creek Schoolhouse is open for tours. Besides school furnishings, the schoolhouse has an interactive iPad timeline exhibit that compares the decades between 1850 and 1950.
The 1850 Red House was a tenant farmhouse and furnished very simply representing the early settlements days in the Michigan frontier.
View our Community Hall of Fame and orientation video.
The Dairy Barn has permanent exhibits on the settlement, agriculture, and suburbanization of our regional area. An orientation video, Community Hall of Fame and touch screen computers provide guests with an interactive experience. In addition, the current exhibit is Life on the Farm: Tools and Equipment of the Trade featuring a wide variety of tools used on every farm as well as some invented in Rochester such as the Miller Brothers Bean Grader.
Within walking distance is the Stoney Creek Cemetery – where Soldiers, Scholars, and Pioneers from our community are buried – guests can pick up a cemetery guide at the Dairy Barn.
During summer months, fishing is available in Stoney Creek – guests can check out a fishing pole and bait at the Dairy Barn front desk. The Museum is the home field for the Rochester Grangers Vintage Base Ball Club and offers a wide variety of programs – from maple syrup to summer camps.
Admission is free for Museum members and $5 adults, $3 students and seniors. The Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Group tours and use of the Museum archives are available by appointment.
The Museum is located at 1005 Van Hoosen Road, off Tienken Road between Rochester and Dequindre Roads.
For more information visit, www.rochesterhills.org/museum.
The Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features the stories, people, and events that has made our community an exceptional place to call home for 190 years. Stop by for a visit! We can host weddings, anniversaries, graduation parties, and more! How can we best serve you?
About Sarah Hovis