21 Best Sights in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The grounds take up an entire block, and its unique history, impressive architecture, and the guides who spin a good yarn combine to make Cliveden perhaps the best visiting experience of the historic Germantown homes. The elaborate country house was built in 1767 by Benjamin Chew (1722–1810), a Quaker and chief justice of the colonies, and something of a fence-straddler during the Revolution. Cliveden was at the center of the Battle of Germantown, occupied by British troops, and the walls still bear the marks of American cannon fire. Except for a brief period of time in the late 1700s when it was owned by a privateer (legalized piracy), the house remained in the Chew family until 1972, when it was donated to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The original house has been completely opened to the public. A shining example of Georgian style, it has Palladian windows and an elegant entrance hall. The family-owned furniture includes a mahogany sofa by Thomas Affleck and looking glasses by James Reynolds. An elaborate reenactment of the Battle of Germantown is held here annually on the first Saturday in October. The house, on 6 acres, can be seen on a 45-minute guided tour.

Five styles of furniture—Jacobean, William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Federal—reflect the accumulations of five generations of the Paschall-Morris family; additions and changes to the house itself, built 1748–50, reveal changing tastes. The stone house stood in Frankford, in northeastern Philadelphia, before being moved to this location in 1927.

Built in 1775 by John Dilworth, Todd House has been restored to its 1790s appearance, when its best-known resident, Dolley Payne Todd (1768–1849), lived here. She lost her husband, the Quaker lawyer John Todd, to yellow fever in 1793. The widow later married James Madison, our fourth president. Her time as a hostess in the White House was quite a contrast to her years in this simple home. There's an 18th-century garden next to Todd House.

Open by tour only; free tickets available at the Independence Visitor Center in advance.

Philadelphia's only mid-19th-century house-museum is a Victorian Gothic extravaganza of elongated windows and arches. This gorgeous 1859 suburban villa is used to illustrate the way Victorian social mores were reflected through its decoration. The downstairs highlights the Rococo Revival (circa 1860), the upstairs is fashioned after the Renaissance Revival (1880s), and the difference is striking, especially the Art Deco–like wall details you may not associate with the time. Also striking is the chamber pot in the dining room that the men used after the ladies retired to the parlor. What makes this house particularly interesting is that it was home to middle-upper-class residents, and so much of the decoration represents the norm of what people in that class strove to be. The house is two blocks from the Tulpehocken stop on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West line.

One of America's most original writers, Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49), lived here from 1843 to 1844; it's the only one of his Philadelphia residences still standing. During that time some of his best-known short stories were published: "The Telltale Heart," "The Black Cat," and "The Gold Bug." You can tour the three-story brick house; to evoke the spirit of Poe, the National Park Service displays first-edition manuscripts and other rare books and offers interactive exhibits as well. An adjoining house has exhibits on Poe and his family, his work habits, and his literary contemporaries; there's also an eight-minute film and a small Poe library and reading room. A statue of a raven helps set the mood. The site, easily reached from the African American Museum, is five blocks north of Market Street. SEPTA bus 47 travels on 7th Street to Green Street, where you should disembark.

Formerly called the Deshler-Morris House, the Germantown home was where President Washington lived and held cabinet meetings during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793–94, making it the seat of government of the new republic for a short time, and also the oldest "official" residence of an American president. A major renovation completed in 2009 has put new life into the house. Interpretive exhibits are displayed in the house next door, and the house itself has been restored to the time Washington was there. The emphasis has also shifted to telling the stories of the entire household, from the slaves who worked there to the president and his wife. In October 1777, during the Battle of Germantown, the house was the headquarters for British general Sir William Howe. As one of the many Germantown houses built flush with the road, it has enchanting side and back gardens. The house, which has moved beyond its "Washington slept here" renown into something much more interesting, is part of the Independence National Historical Park.

The blood of General James Agnew, who died after being struck by musket balls during the Battle of Germantown, stains the floor in the parlor of this Georgian house. Built by Philadelphia merchant and wine importer John Wister in 1744, Grumblethorpe is one of Germantown's leading examples of early-18th-century Pennsylvania-German architecture. The Wister family lived here for 160 years, and during the Revolution a teenage Sally Wister kept a diary that has become an important historical source for what that time was like. On display are period furnishings and family mementos, but probably the best part of the house is the large garden. Wisteria, the flowering vine, is named after Charles Wister (John's grandson), who was an avid botanist and amateur scientist, and there is plenty of it in the garden. There are also an enormous hundred-year-old rosebush, a peony alley, a two-story arbor with climbing clematis and a grapevine working its way across its base, and a number of tulips.

After bringing visitors through the hidden back entrance of this 1768 home, guides retrace the experience of slaves who found a haven here when the Johnson House was a key station on the Underground Railroad. They weave the story of the Johnson family, Quakers who worked to abolish slavery, with that of Harriet Tubman, who was sheltered here with runaway slaves and later guided them to freedom. Visitors see hiding places, including the third-floor attic hatch that runaways would use to hide on the roof when the sheriff came by, learn Underground Railroad code words, and view slavery artifacts, such as ankle shackles and collars. The home has contained the gamut of American history; in 1777 the house was in the line of fire during the Battle of Germantown; the shutters still show the impact of the musket rounds. In the early 1900s it was saved from demolition when it became a women's club. The house itself does not amaze, but hearing the stories of the home when you are standing within it is interesting. It's best to call ahead for tours.

Built around 1767, this Georgian house on a laurel-covered hill overlooking the Schuylkill River once belonged to Dr. Philip Syng Physick (also owner of Society Hill's Physick House). The house furnishings are from a variety of periods. On some Sunday evenings in summer, Women for Greater Philadelphia sponsors candlelight chamber music concerts here; there are other events, too. Call before visiting.

An impressive example of a Federal-style country house, Lemon Hill was built in 1800 on a 350-acre farm. Its most distinctive features are oval parlors with concave doors and the entrance hall's checkerboard floor of Valley Forge marble.

One of the restored 18th-century houses in this lovely court was once home to Benjamin Loxley, a carpenter who worked on Independence Hall. The court's claim to fame, according to its residents, is as the spot where Benjamin Franklin flew his kite in his experiment with lightning; the key tied to it was the key to Loxley's front door.

Built in 1761 by John Macpherson, a Scottish sea captain, Mount Pleasant is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the country. The level of craftsmanship in the rooms, including architectural carvings, is high, and the historically accurate furnishings are culled from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's noted collection of Philadelphia Chippendale furniture.

James Logan may not be a household name, but he was a seminal figure in pre-Revolutionary America. He was secretary to William Penn and managed the daily affairs of the colony. Logan, who went on to hold almost every important public office in the colonies, designed the 1730 Georgian manor himself and named it for his father's birthplace in Scotland. He used it to entertain local luminaries and Native American tribal delegates. It was also where he kept one of the area's first libraries, at a time when books were looked upon with suspicion. George Washington was a guest of James's grandson on his way to the Battle of Brandywine, and British General Howe claimed it for his headquarters during the Battle of Germantown. The Stenton mansion is filled with family and period pieces; the site also includes a kitchen wing, barn, and Colonial-style garden. The guided 45-minute tour interprets the life of three generations of the Logan family and the life of the region from the 1720s through the American Revolution. This house has one of the best interiors of any of the Germantown homes. It's best to call ahead for a tour.

The largest of the Fairmount Park Historic Mansions underwent major structural repairs in 2012, including restoration of the original windows, updated wiring, and the addition of an eco-friendly, geothermal, climate-control system. It has furniture from the three main phases of its history: Federal, Regency, and Empire. In the parlor is a collection of rare Tucker and Hemphill porcelain; it also showcases a large collection of fine antique dolls and toys.

The Naomi Wood collection of antique household goods, including Colonial furniture, unusual clocks, and English delftware, and designated her "colonial household gear" in her will, can be seen on guided tours in this fine Georgian mansion, a National Historic Landmark built about 1756.

Between the 1690s and 1973, Wyck sheltered nine generations of the Wistar-Haines family. Their accumulated furnishings are on display, along with ceramics, children's needlework, dolls, and artifacts generally contemporary with the mid-1800s. On one side is the oldest rose garden of in the United States, dating to the 1820s, which blooms in late May, as well as a magnolia tree from that time. Out back are a large lawn, where you can picnic, and a vegetable garden—the land has been continuously farmed since 1690. Known as the oldest house in Germantown, Wyck was used as a British field hospital after the Battle of Germantown. The home's current form dates to 1824, when William Strickland made alterations. Tours are offered and should be scheduled in advance, but the grounds are open for wandering, and there is a farmers' market offering fruits and produce grown on the grounds on Friday afternoons from May to November.