Cottonwood Mansion’s Victorian House Guest Experience is Haldimand County’s latest historical escape adventure
History lovers and adventure seekers alike will love Haldimand County’s latest experiential attraction: the Victorian House Guest Experience.
If you’re looking for something different, exciting, and immersive to do — all while staying relatively close to home — be sure to check out Cottonwood Mansion’s new experience, which will transport you back in time to the Victorian era and give you an idea of what it would have been like to have lived as a member of Victorian high society.
This four-hour event is an immersive and historically accurate sensory trip to the past, and includes everything from Victorian entertainment to traditional cooking lessons to leisure activities that were common to the time. Victorian-era actors assist and guide guests throughout the day and around the venue. The event culminates with a grand, multiple course meal, serving delicious and locally sourced dishes against the background of live music.
Read on to learn more about this exciting new attraction for anyone looking to experience history first-hand.
An immersive historical experience
Over a period of four hours, guests have the opportunity to completely escape from the reality of modern-day life and be transported to a different world and a simpler time.
Surrounded by actors dressed in historically accurate clothing, guests living in the 21st century get to experience what it was really like to live in high society during the 19th century, from the way people spoke to the way people lived. Guests play historically accurate games, partake in classic activities such as bread-making, and participate in a big Victorian-style meal at the end of the day.
The immersive aspect allows participants to experience history in a way that a regular museum wouldn’t, making it a great way to learn and retain more.
Something different to do
When you have guests come to visit from out of town, there’s no doubt that you want to show them something different from the usual, and the Victorian House Guest Experience is a great choice.
But even if you’re not hosting visitors or tourists, this activity is still a great way to diversify the kinds of activities you and your significant other or your family partake in over the weekends. Maybe you’ve already visited all the big museums in the area, or maybe your kids are getting bored of going to the same places weekend after weekend. Whatever it is, the Victorian House Guest Experience mixes things up, providing a fun, safe, and unique way to learn more about history.
Learn new skills
Unlike a regular museum, this immersive historical experience will also give guests practical skills that can be used far beyond the day spent at Cottonwood Mansion.
Guests will participate in traditional activities such as bread-making and wreath-making, which are both historically accurate but also fun, creative, and useful skills that guests can take home with them. In this way, the Victorian House Guest Experience lasts for much longer than just four hours, and is another way that participants can learn about history in a unique way.
Make new connections
Sure, you’ll most likely take part in the Victorian House Guest experience with friends or family. But there will also likely be other groups of people participating, too.
And if spending the entire day together isn’t enough to bring you together, participating in shared activities, admiring the historically accurate characters that are bringing history to life, and enjoying a delicious meal in community are all ways in which you will likely bond with other participants.
The level of immersion of the experience naturally means that participants will bond more than they would at a normal museum. Working together to create bread and make wreaths, for example, will have you problem-solving and laughing together, while the communal meal at the end will be sure to solidify the bond that was created throughout the day.
Enjoy delicious and locally made food
Hosted in the grand dining room, with live music to accompany them, guests end their day with a communal meal, harkening back to days of old, when dinner was always a monumental event.
Although the meal is as historically accurate as possible, the priority for this part of the experience is for guests to feast on delicious and locally sourced foods, including local preserves, meats, cheeses, and pastries.
The best part of the meal is the communal dining experience, where the group gathers to enjoy food and drink the Victorian way.
For fans of Pride and Prejudice and Downton Abbey, the Victorian House Guest Experience is one way that you can live out your dream of being a member of high society from the time. Whether you’re looking for something different and exciting to do with your visitors from out of town, or you are simply looking for a way to elevate your historical education, the Cottonwood Mansion’s Victorian House Guest Experience — just an hour-and-a-half drive from Toronto, and an hour from Hamilton — is the perfect escape from the monotonous routine of everyday life.
With food included and a range of activities offered throughout the day, history lovers of all ages will love the variety, excitement, and uniqueness of the Victorian House Guest Experience.
For more information and to book your experience, visit cottonwoodmansionmuseum.com. The Victorian House Guest Experience runs all year long, rain, shine, or snow.
