Julian Alden Weir traded a painting and $10 for a 153‑acre farm in Branchville, Connecticut, on July 19, 1882.
The deal followed a visit by art collector Erwin Davis, who wanted a painting Weir had bought in Europe; Weir agreed after inspecting the land in June and noting its potential as a retreat.
After marrying Anna Dwight Baker the next year, Weir made Branchville his home for 36 years, building a studio and using its fields, woods and rocky outcrops as recurring motifs.
The farm became a hub for contemporaries such as Childe Hassam, John Twachtman and Albert Pinkham Ryder; together they founded the Ten American Painters in the late 1890s, pushing American Impressionism beyond institutional walls.
In 1965, the 68‑acre site was designated Weir Farm National Historical Park, the only park dedicated to an artist's home, studio and surroundings; today its collection holds more than 300 works by Weir and his circle.