The house was old long before the painters found it. It began about 1728 as the home of the mercantile Bush family, a classic New England saltbox on the harbor, and it stood through the era of the New Nation in the years after the Revolution. The village around it grew as a working Mianus-River waterfront — wharves, a mill, a shipyard, and oyster boats on the Sound — generations before anyone set up an easel on the riverbank.
So Cos Cob gathers a colonial saltbox, a boarding house full of painters, and the first Impressionist colony in Connecticut onto the banks of the Mianus. Our Cos Cob designs gather that into wearable form. Wear the history. Where the Impressionists painted the Mianus — Cos Cob, CT.
Why People Visit Cos Cob
Cos Cob offers art heritage and green escapes in a small, walkable village. Visitors pair the Bush-Holley House and its Impressionist collection with river paths, harbor overlooks, and quiet historic streets. It is tranquil, residential, and close to the water, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces. History and everyday life sit side by side here, from the saltbox over the harbor to the trails along the Mianus.
