Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens, Rockford

A historic house museum, Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens contains the historic house museum, barn, and carriage house from the Tinker family. In addition, the property remains the home of the founding site of Rockford and contains a Pre-Columbian Native American conical mound. The museum collection contains over 10,000 objects with over 99 percent of the collection obtained from the original objects of the occupants of the Tinker Swiss Cottage. The Tinker family, the sole occupants of the Swiss Cottage, left their home to the Rockford Park District and their household belongings to trustees after seventy-five years of residence. Filled with original furnishings, artwork, diaries, clothing, and household items, the cottage remains a rich time capsule of life during the Victorian Era. The cottage is also one of only a handful of Swiss-style homes remaining in the United States. Take a look at our Rockford travel tool to schedule your visit to Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens and learn about what else to see and do during your holiday.