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Historic House Museums
We're building an extensive list of historic house museums. If you are the curator or know of an interesting old house museum we want you to include it here for all the old house community to see. Submit a historic house museum to OldHouses.com
Connecticut
Mark Twain House
Hartford, CT
Step back to the Gilded Age during guided tours of the 19-room, Tiffany-decorated mansion where Mark Twain raised his family and worked from 1874 to 1891. During this incredibly productive period, Twain created such classics as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. More pictures and information
Glebe House Museum & The Gertrude Jekyll Garden
Woodbury, CT
Mid 18th century house, home of John Rutgers Marshall family from 1771-1786; site of the election of first Episcopal bishop, in 1783. Gertrude Jekyll-designed garden only extant garden in North America by England's most influential garden designer of the late 19th early 20th century.
Georgia
Isaiah Davenport House Museum
Savannah, GA
The Isaiah Davenport House is an example of Federal architecture amongst Georgian architecture in downtown Savannah, GA. It was built around 1820 by master builder Isaiah Davenport and shows some of his trade. It also contains an interesting history as a nineteenth century rooming house and twentieth century tenement. The building was almost demolished in 1955 but was saved by a group later to be known as the Historic Savannah Foundation.
Glebe House Museum & The Gertrude Jekyll Garden
Woodbury, CT
Mid 18th century house, home of John Rutgers Marshall family from 1771-1786; site of the election of first Episcopal bishop, in 1783. Gertrude Jekyll-designed garden only extant garden in North America by England's most influential garden designer of the late 19th early 20th century.
Illinois
Fabyan Villa Museum and Japanese Garden
Geneva, IL
The Fabyan Villa Museum was the home of George and Nelle Fabyan from 1905
- 1939. It was initially their summer home, but shortly after 1907, when they
hired Frank Lloyd Wright to enlarge and re-model their home, they decided
to make it their permanent residence. Over the next 20 years, their estate
grew into a lavish showplace, complete with fountains, swimming pools, gardens,
a windmill, private zoo, tennis courts, and more. A visit to the Villa Museum
gives visitors an experience of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, as well as
an overview of the unique and fascinating Fabyan story. The Museum contains
the Fabyans' collection of Asian artifacts, natural history specimens, Nelle's
original Mission-Style bedroom furniture and some surprises!
You will also
learn of the Fabyans' contributions to society, country and science,
and the generosity they bestowed on residents of the Fox Valley Area.
Their
Japanese Garden, first installed c. 1909, is still a tranquil
oasis where history melds with nature and theory. This special site
affords you the opportunity to simply enjoy a bit of harmony with nature,
or to learn principles of Japanese gardening.
The major part of the Fabyan
Estate is now the Fabyan Forest Preserve, part of Kane County
Forest Preserve District in Illinois. The Villa is on the National Register
of Historic Places. Visit www.ppfv.org for more details and tour information.
Farnsworth House
Plano, IL
The Farnsworth House is one of the first modern houses to be opened to the public. Mies van der Rohe created this masterpiece in 1951. Visit www.farnsworthhouse.org for more details and tour information. For additional images and information view the Farnsworth House archive listing.
Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum
Rockford, IL
Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum is a treasure trove of a time gone by. Rockford, Illinois businessman Robert H. Tinker built the home in 1865, perching it high on a limestone bluff overlooking Kent Creek. His inspiration came from an 1862 tour of Europe where he fell in love with the architecture of Switzerland. Today the Cottage is one of only a handful of Swiss-style homes remaining in the United States from the 1800s.
Tinker surrounded his Swiss Cottage with trees, vines, winding pathways and flower beds. A three-story Barn housed cows, chickens and in later years the family car. On the backside of the Cottage, a suspension bridge crossed Kent Creek and linked the Cottage with Mrs. Tinker's property on the far bank. In 1906, after the railroad bought her estate, Robert Tinker planted elaborate gardens at the end of the bridge.
The Tinker family, the sole occupants of the Swiss Cottage, left their home to the Rockford Park District and their household belongings to trustees after seventy-five years of residence. Filled with original furnishings, artwork, diaries and household items, the Cottage is a rich time capsule of life a century ago.
Dana-Thomas House
Springfield, IL
The Dana-Thomas House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902 for Susan Lawrence Dana, a forward-thinking socialite living in Springfield, Illinois. The home, the 72nd building designed by Wright, contains the largest collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture. Wright’s first “blank check” commission, the home has 35 rooms in the 12,000 square feet of living space which includes 3 main levels and 16 varying levels in all. More pictures and information
The Cuneo Museum
Vernon Hills, IL
The Cuneo Museum was originally the home of Samuel Insull, a partner of inventor Thomas Edison. Insull founded the Commonwealth Edison Company in Chicago and was a pioneer in developing technology for the delivery of electrical services. In 1914 architect Benjamin Marshall designed the Venetian style mansion and prairie style landscaper Jens Jensen laid out the gardens and park. After Insull's notorious financial collapse, John Cuneo purchased the property. He was best known as founder of the Cuneo Press and the Hawthorn Mellody Dairy. An avid collector, he filled the mansion with artwork, antique furnishings, tapestries, porcelain and silver. As stipulated in his will, when Mrs. Cuneo died in 1990, the mansion, its collections and the surrounding estate was opened to the public and administered by the Cuneo Foundation.Public tours are conducted daily, except Monday. Concerts, lectures, art fairs and a classic car show are staged in the mansion or on the beautiful grounds. Facilities are available for wedding and party rental as well. Visit our website at www.cuneomuseum.org or call 847 362-3042 for further information.
Indiana
Howard County Museum
Kokomo, IN
The musuem is made up of the Seiberling Mansion and the Elliott House, both historic mansions located in Kokomo, IN.
Elwood Haynes Museum
Kokomo, IN
The museum is dedicated to the life and inventions of Elwood Haynes, including Stainless Steel, Stellite and other alloys, and the first production gasoline-powered car.
Kansas
The Lebold Mansion
Abilene, KS
Built in 1880 the 23 room Italinate Tuscan Villa Mansion has just under went extensive restoration returning it back to a late 19th century theme. Today the museum is home to some of the finest Victorian artifacts in the Mid west region. Located in the hometown of President Dwight Eisenhower. Open Tuesday -Sunday 10am-4pm closed Mondays Admision charged, Guided tours, Parking, Gift shop.
Kentucky
Ashland:
The Henry Clay Estate
Lexington, KY
The estate of Henry Clay, great 19th century Kentucky statesman "The Great Compromiser". Served as Senator, Speaker of the House, Peace Commissioner War of 1812 and Secry of State under Pres. J.Q. Adams & Compromise of 1850. 17 acre estate. National Historic Landmark. 1856 mansion, original Clay dependencies include ice houses, smoke house, caretaker's cottage, dairy cellar. Walking trails, formal garden and seasonal cafe.
Open for tours.
Owned & operated by a private non-profit foundation - Henry Clay Memorial
Foundation.
Maryland
Mount Harmon Plantation
Earleville, MD
Mount Harmon Plantation originated as a land grant of 350 acres to Godfrey Harmon by Caecilious Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, in 1651.
During the seventh and eighteenth centuries, Mount Harmon prospered as a tobacco plantation. As you drive down the two-mile lane, through the tunnel formed by Osage orange trees, you will appreciate the isolation of those times, when transportation moved most freely by water. Three of the owners during the period had their own schooners to transport tobacco to the British Isles and return with furnishings and necessities for the house and farm.
James Louttit, a Scotsman who bought Mount Harmon in 1760, called his schooner the "Bee". He, his irish wife Mary George, and their descendants lived in Mount Harmon from 1760 to 1810. Their families' coats of arms are displayed on the gate posts. Subsequently, the plantation passed into another branch of the family.
In 1817, Mount Harmon became the property of Sidney George Fisher. He is known today for his copious diaries in which he describes society, plantation life and agriculture in the nineteenth century. In 1927, at the death of his son, a historian who spelled his name Sydney George Fisher, Mount Harmon passed out of the family.
Massachusetts
The
Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead & The Evergreens
Amherst, MA
The Museum consists of two historic houses in the
center of Amherst, Massachusetts, closely associated with the poet Emily
Dickinson and members of her family during the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. The Homestead was the birthplace and home of the poet Emily Dickinson.
The Evergreens, next door, was home to her brother Austin, his wife Susan,
and their three children.
The Nichols House Museum
Boston, MA
Amid the beautiful townhouses of Boston’s historic Beacon Hill district stands the home of a remarkable woman, Miss Rose Standish Nichols. Her four story townhouse at 55 Mount Vernon Street was built in 1804 and is attributed to Charles Bulfinch, renowned Boston architect. The Federal style home contains a dazzling array of artwork collected by the Nichols family, from paintings and prints to antique furniture, silver, textiles, and ceramics. This varied collection spans the globe and centuries as well, representing American, Asian, and European art from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Among the many cherished objects in the Museum’s collection are works by Miss Nichols’ uncle, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, America’s foremost sculptor of the 19th century.
Perhaps even more astonishing than her splendid home is the story of Rose Nichols herself. Born in 1872, she was an author, suffragist, lifelong pacifist, and women’s rights activist at a time when women were expected to marry and have children. Miss Nichols chose to do neither, instead supporting herself through a pioneering career in landscape architecture. In fact, she was one of the first women to become a professional landscape designer in the United States. A multi-faceted woman, she also devoted her time to numerous social reform movements and helped found the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1915.
Rose Nichols left her house as a museum so that people could learn about the life of a Boston Brahmin family at the turn of the last century. Since 1961, the Nichols House Museum has been open to the public, offering visitors a glimpse of the unique social history of Beacon Hill during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The
Sargent House Museum
Gloucester, MA
For over 100 years, the Sargent House Museum was the home of sea merchants,
patriots and community leaders. A fine example of high-style Georgian domestic
architecture, the house was built in 1782 for Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820),
a philosopher, writer and an early advocate of social justice.
Visitors to the Sargent House Museum learn about
the early history of Gloucester from its beginnings as a farming and lumbering
outpost to its evolution into the country’s premier seaport. Visitors
will also see a collection of original works by the great portrait painter
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) who traces his roots back to Judith Sargent
Murray and Colonial Gloucester.
House
of Seven Gables
Salem, MA
When you arrive at The House of the Seven Gables - which constitutes
its own national historic district on The National Register of Historic
places - costumed interpreters will warmly greet you for an unforgettable
historical experience. Outside, spectacular seaside gardens await you.
Inside of The House of the Seven Gables, also known as the Turner-Ingersoll
Mansion, you will discover a mysterious secret staircase where you least
expect it! Built in 1668, this is the oldest surviving 17th century wooden
mansion in New England. The House of the Seven Gables inspired author Nathaniel
Hawthorne to write his legendary novel of the same name.
Stonehurst,
The Robert Treat Paine Estate
Waltham, MA
The country home of social reformer and affordable housing advocate Robert
Treat Paine, Stonehurst is an American masterpiece crowning the career-long
collaboration between architect Henry Hobson Richardson (Trinity Church,
Boston) and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, leading 19th century
designers who deeply influenced the way Americans live and relate to their
environment, from dense cities to unspoiled wilderness. Hidden from the
street on 109 acres of conservation land, Stonehurst is the most intact
example of Richardson's innovative approach to country house design and
the only one that is open to the public. Built in 1886, the convention-breaking
house crowns a spectacular rise selected by Olmsted, founder of the parks
movement nationwide. The house also incorporates an older house (1866)
recycled and relocated uphill on the site.
Michigan
Thumb
Octagon Barn
Gagetown, MI
The barn is a warehouse and a factory, a place of business, and a storehouse
for farm equipment. It is one of the farmer's most important agricultural
tools. The barn was originally used for threshing grain, milking cows,
and storing hay. But it was also a place for dancing, playing, and courting.
It was the heart of the farm and a vital part of the community.
Voight
House Victorian Museum
Grand Rapids, MI
Voigt House is an 1895 Chateauesque style manison built by German immigrant
and busnessman, Carl Voigt. His family occupied and preserved the house
for 76 years and it contains their original decor, furnishings and possessions.
It is a property of the Public Museum of Grand Rapids and is located in
Heritage Hill which consists of 1300 homes and buildings, one of the largest
areas on the National Register of Historic Places.
Alden B. Dow Home and Studio
Midland, MI
The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio in Midland, Michigan, is a masterpiece of contemporary organic architecture. Designed in 1933 by Alden B. Dow, his own home and studio personifies the idea that gardens never end and buildings never begin. It integrates the best elements of nature with the remarkable visions of man-made ingenuity. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio is shared with the public through educational programming, public and group tours and by researchers utilizing the Alden B. Dow Archives, the on-site repository of Mr. Dow's architectural records.
New Jersey
The Hermitage
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ
The Hermitage, a National Historic Landmark house museum, incorporates a stone structure that was visited during the Revolutionary War by Washington, Hamilton, and Lafayette. It was the site of the marriage of Aaron Burr and Theodosia Prevost in 1782. Its picturesque Gothic Revival design dates to the 1847 remodeling by architect William H. Ranlett.
New York
Lyndhurst
Tarrytown, NY
Lyndhurst is one of America's finest Gothic Revival mansion and a remarkable example of the Hudson River's grand and historic estates. Lyndhurst has always been a place to escape the city and to enjoy the spectacular beauty of the Hudson River and the peaceful surroundings of the country.
View the OldHouses.com archive entry
North Carolina
Biltmore Estate
Asheville, NC
Four of the most fascinating acres at Biltmore Estate are all under one roof. America's largest home boasts 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, an indoor pool, bowling alley, priceless art and antiques.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
Winston-Salem, NC
Former country estate of R.J. and Katherine Smith Reynolds, the mansion was built in 1917 along with formal gardens and a full village. Now it is part of the Reynolda Historic District well within the city limits of Winston-Salem, N.C. The collection is famous for masterpieces from 3 centuries.
Single Brothers House
Winston-Salem, NC
Part of the Old Salem restoration, the Single Brothers House was built in 1769 and housed the single men of the Moravian town of Salem, N.C. (now part of Winston-Salem). The house is part of one of the nation's largest and most authentic living history restorations, which includes many other 18th century buildings that were part of the colonial town.
Ohio
Stan
Hywet Hall & Gardens
Akron, OH
In 1896, F.A. Seiberling founded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company,
naming it after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the vulcanization process
for rubber. It was the turn of the twentieth century and the Industrial
Age was forming modern America where cities grew and industries flourished.
Akron, Ohio was no exception -- it built its foundation on the rubber industry
to become the "Rubber Capital of the World."
Oklahoma
The
Marland Mansion "The Palace on the Prairie"
Ponca City, OK
The Marland story is fascinating and his home is an architectural wonder.
It was designed and constructed as a showplace for pieces of fine art and
in the process, it became a masterpiece in its own right.
This National Historic Landmark took three years to construct, 1925 to
1928. The mansion is 78 feet wide and 184 feet long, and contains 43,561
square feet distributed over four levels. There are 55 rooms, including
10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, 7 fireplaces, and 3 kitchens. It takes 861 light
bulbs to light the mansion.
Pennsylvania
Fallingwater
Mill Run, PA
Fallingwater is recognized as one of Wright's most acclaimed works, and in a 1991 poll of members of the American Institute of Architects, it was voted "the best all-time work of American architecture." It is a supreme example of Frank Lloyd Wright's concept of organic architecture, which promotes harmony between man and nature through design so well integrated with its site that buildings, furnishings, and surroundings become part of a unified, interrelated composition. Wright embraced modern technology to achieve this, designing spaces for living which expressed architecturally the expansive freedom of the American frontier.
Clayton
Pittsburgh, PA
"Clayton is a triumph of restoration," wrote Susan Mary Alsop in Architectural Digest. It is also a triumph of preservation. When the Frick family moved to New York in 1905, after living at Clayton for 22 years, they left much of their Pittsburgh life behind. An astonishing 93% of the artifacts in the house are original, making Clayton a home more than a house, and an eloquent evocation of the lives of the family who lived there. Clayton has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors since it was opened to the public in 1990 after a four-year restoration.
South Carolina
Woodburn
Historic House
Pendleton, SC
Woodburn was built before 1830 by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as a summer
plantation house on a 650 acre farm near Pendleton, SC in the SC "Upstate".
The house is a majestic four-story clapboard house with expansive
two-story "piazzas",
high-ceilings, oversized doors and windows and is reflective of the
architectural tradition of Caribbean plantaion houses built for coolness.
The house was occupied by the wealthy Charleston families (Pinckneys,
Adgers, Smythes) as a summer retreat for 80 years before being converted
to a tenant farm with multiple families occupying the Big House.
The farm was the birthplace of Jane Edna Harris Hunter, the daughter
of former slaves, who became a leading activitist and reformer in
her adopted home of Cleveland, OH. The house was restored in the
1970's by the Pendleton Historic Foundation and is operated as a
house museum with multiple outbuildings and walking trails interpreting
live on the farm.
Tennessee
Belle
Meade Plantation
Nashville, TN
19th Century Greek Revival home on 30 acres. Original 1790s cabin, Carriage
house, dairy, smoke house, and garden/green house. One of the top Thoroughbred
Stud Farms throughout the nineteenth century. Open daily for tours.
The
Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson
Nashville, TN
The Hermitage is one of the largest and most popular presidental museums
in the U.S. Nearly 15 million people from around the world have visited
since opening in 1889. A nonprofit organization preserves and operates
this 1,120-acre National Historic Landmark located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Open daily 9-5 p.m.
Texas
The Heritage Society
Houston, TX
The Heritage Society Museum is located at 1100 Bagby, Sam Houston Park. Founded in 1954, The Heritage Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which strives to preserve the history of the community through preservation, restoration of historic structures, exhibition and educational programs. Through permanent and rotating museum exhibits, daily historic structure tours, special lectures, events and trips, children and adults are able to understand and experience life in early Houston.
Vermont
Robert Todd Lincoln's Hildene
Manchester, VT
In 1902, Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of President Abraham & Mary Todd Lincoln, hired a Boston architectural firm to build a stately home on a promontory overlooking the Battenkill Valley in Manchester, Vermont. The site he chose commanded sweeping views of the valley bordered by the Taconic Mountains to the west and the Green Mountains to the east. His magnificent Georgian Revival style home was completed three years later. Robert Todd Lincoln named his new home Hildene meaning "hill" and "valley." Hildene would be Mr. Lincoln's summer home for the next 21 years and would be the only house in America where all of Abraham Lincoln's descendants would eventually reside.
Virginia
Monticello:
The Home of Thomas Jefferson
Charlottesville, VA
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation (formerly the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Foundation) owns and operates Monticello, the mountaintop home of Thomas
Jefferson and the only home in America on the elite World Heritage List
of the United Nations. More
pictures and information
Wisconson
The
Pabst Mansion
Milwaukee, WI
The founder of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Captain Frederick Pabst, finished
his Flemish Renaissance Revival Mansion in 1892. Today it's a lovely
museum.
International
Canada
Beaulieu Historic Site - The Lougheed House
Calgary, Canada
Beaulieu is the 1891 Lougheed House, a designated National Historic Site in the heart of Calgary, Canada. The 2.8-acre estate, a public park known as Beaulieu Gardens, is open daily from 7:00 a.m. until sundown. The grand sandstone mansion is under restoration and is expected to reopen as a public heritage centre early in 2005.
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