Visitors to the college town of Fayetteville, Arkansas should add one stop to their itinerary to learn more about former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The one-bedroom brick home in the Ozark Mountains was the couple’s first home and it was here in the living room that they were married.
A replica of Hillary’s wedding dress greets guests as soon as they enter the house. It’s now on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance as the home of the frozen foods giants the Swanson family.
Bill and Hillary met at Yale Law School and the couple moved to Fayetteville to establish a law practice. It was there he was offered a teaching position and in 1974, he ran for Congress. Despite his loss, this was his first taste of what became a lifetime of politics and would lead him, and Hillary, from this simple house to the White House.
The first few rooms have displays on the house’s original owners, the Swansons, and on the couple’s early days in law school and later in Fayetteville.
Interior rooms feature displays on both Bill and Hillary’s modern political lives, including Bill’s time as president and Hillary’s time as a senator and later the secretary of state. Another room plays videos from early campaign ads.
The kitchen has been restored to look like it did when they lived there. There’s also a small gift shop selling memorabilia and books inside the museum. This is just one stop on what’s known as the “Billgrimage” trail in Arkansas, with other stops including his presidential library in Little Rock, his birth home in Hope, and the town of Hot Springs, where he also lived.
If You Go
Clinton House Museum is located at 930 West Clinton Drive, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701. They’re open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm but closed Wednesdays.
Admission is $8 for adults and there is a small parking lot for visitors. From the Fayetteville Visitor’s Center, it’s a 15-minute walk down West Center Street to the museum or a 5-minute drive.
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