Volunteering and Projects

A child discovering the grand staircase. A family celebrating together. A visitor finding a piece of Abilene's story. Swenson House is a place for moments like these—and people who care make its future possible.

Our volunteer-run society needs your help to preserve the house, care for its grounds, and keep it welcoming. Explore the needs below, then contact info@swensonhouse.com about giving, sponsorship, volunteering, or trustee service.

Arbor Repair

A wedding photograph. A family gathering. A quiet moment in the garden. The arbor helps make Swenson House a place people remember. Deteriorating wood now needs attention so this setting can continue to welcome the community. Your gift can help restore the arbor and protect the memories still to be made beneath it. Ask about giving or sponsoring the restoration at info@swensonhouse.com.

Grounds Care

The grounds are part of what makes Swenson House feel special—a place to stroll beneath the trees, gather with friends, and enjoy a piece of Abilene’s history. Keeping them welcoming takes care that visitors may never see: repairing decades-old water lines and recurring leaks, maintaining the sprinkler system and small garden pond, and pruning or removing trees when needed. Watering such extensive grounds also brings substantial costs. Your gift helps meet these practical needs and preserve the beauty people come here to enjoy. To support the care of our grounds, contact info@swensonhouse.com.

Safer Storage & Accessible Facilities

Behind every celebration are volunteers carrying decorations up and down steep basement stairs. For many older volunteers, those trips are increasingly demanding. A ground-level storage building, out of view from the front of the house, would put seasonal decorations within easier reach and reduce that strain. Accessible bathrooms and improved paths would also help guests feel welcome. Funding is needed to move this work forward, with timing and scope—including possible parking changes—dependent on resources. Help care for the people who care for the house: info@swensonhouse.com.

Painting and Wallpaper

The rooms of Swenson House make history feel personal. Their colors, walls, and details help visitors imagine the lives once lived here. Upstairs painting and wallpaper repairs will help preserve that character for future tours and discoveries. Help care for the details that make this house worth stepping inside. Ask how you can support this work at info@swensonhouse.com.