In 1972, the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario purchased the Lee home, preserving this vintage home as an important historic memorial to the Institutes beginnings, and to a vanished middle-class rural Victorian lifestyle. It opened as the Erland Lee (Museum) Home the same year, with the exterior and the 1873 additions lovingly restored to their 1897 beauty.

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 The white board and batten house is of Gothic Architecture, and exhibits household artifacts and furniture ranging over 175 years, many of them original Lee family artifacts. The main building features household artifacts and furniture from 1790 - 1930, including many original family items from the six generations of the Lee family who lived here (1808-1971). One interesting local piece is an 1870s Wanzer Sewing machine made in Hamilton. The museum has renovated a portion of the 1873 fieldstone basement, and has a model railway display of historic Stoney Creek c.1910 in that space, together with local history maps and photos.

The restored Erland Lee Museum and the symmetry of the original design.

In 2005, the east porch was restored, including exposure of the 19th century door leading into the parlour. The door had been walled in since the 1930s. 

 The carriage (Drive) house, also an original 1873 building, features displays of farm-related implements and tools, a permanent exhibit on Women's Institutes history and their overall effect on Canada's development as well as special temporary exhibits throughout the year (see Events Page). The museum also boasts a quilt collection, with a mix of traditional and modern patterns and techniques, many quilted by members of the Women's Institutes. One of the highlights of the quilt collection, a piece of Canadiana, is the 1875 Margaret Sheriff quilt. Approximately a dozen quilts are on display  in the museum at any one time.

Girls' bedroom

  The Erland Lee Museum today emphasizes both the role in founding of the Women's Institutes of Erland and Janet Lee, but also the early history of Stoney Creek and the 170 year influence of the Lee family on the development of the Stoney Creek region from rural township to sub-urban city. Designated in 2003 as a National Historic Site of Canada, the Lee is known internationally as the birthplace of the Women's Institutes. 

The beautiful secluded picnic grounds, open to the public year-round, are suitable for both a quiet stroll or group events and the public washrooms are open during museum business hours. The Lee family left 1.9 acres of their former farm with the property, and today it is one of Stoney Creek's best kept picnicking secrets. 

Time capsule on the grounds of the museum

 The museum holds archival material from the Women's Institutes' founding and general history, from the Lee family, and from the local community, especially the history of Saltfleet Township from 1790-1970. this collection of paper and photos includes Tweedsmuir Histories from Stoney Creek, Winona, Community Beach, Kings Forest (Bartonville) and Binbrook. The museum maintains a database of historical photos, some of which can be found online as part of the Virtual Museum of Canada.

Stoney Creek Women's Institute minutes (1897-1959)

The first fifty five years of the Charter Branch Women's Institute have been digitized, thanks to a grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage's Museum Assistance Program, and supported by a donation from ZONTA Club of Hamilton II. Researchers can see copies of the original documents surrounding the early years of the WI movement. Click HERE for more information.