About the Monte Cristo Cottage

The Monte Cristo Cottage is owned and operated by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Situated in nearby New London, Connecticut, the Cottage is the boyhood home of Eugene O'Neill, America's only Nobel-Prize winning playwright, and the setting for two of his most notable works, Ah, Wilderness!, and Long Day's Journey Into Night. The Cottage is a registered national landmark, attracting theater students, professional artists, and writers, as well as tourists.

The Monte Cristo Cottage was the only permanent home of Eugene O'Neill from his birth in 1888 until 1917, when he began supporting himself as a playwright. Named in honor of his father, actor James O'Neill's most popular role, the dashing Edmund Dantes in The Count Of Monte Cristo, the 1840's cottage is both a Registered National Landmark and a museum, featuring an extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia, including an O'Neill portrait and poster gallery and a permanent exhibition on the life and works of the playwright.

Curators Lois MacDonald and Sally Pavetti began coordinating the restoration and furnishing of the Cottage in 1976, based on research and careful reading of O'Neill's works. The Cottage was completely renovated and reopened in the spring of 2005, and now reflects the setting of Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night as described by the dramatist in his set directions and depicted in his sketch for the New London Cottage. Very few other literary landmarks are as evocative of a writer and his inner world.

CLICK HERE for driving directions and admission information, or e-mail montecristo@theONEILL.org for more information.

GENERAL ADMISSION: $7
STUDENTS/SENIORS/MEMBERS: $5
(Get all the benefits of membership)

DATES & HOURS OF OPERATION:

Memorial Day - Labor Day: Thurs - Sat 12pm-4pm, Sunday 1pm-3pm
Labor Day - Memorial Day: Group tours (10 or more people) available by appointment with a minimum of 48 hours advance notice required

INFORMATION & RESERVATIONS

PH (860) 443-5378 ext. 290
FAX (860) 443-9653