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Shortly after its construction in 1767, this three-story Georgian house was abandoned by its owner, Colonial governor Thomas Oliver. Also known as the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, it was home to the accomplished Lowell family for two centuries. Elmwood is now the Harvard University president's residence, ever since student riots in 1969 drove president Nathan Pusey from his house in Harvard Yard. Although it's not open to the public, it affords a nice view from the street.
The famed Amherst poet lived and wrote in this brick Federal-style home. Admission is by guided tour only, and to say that the tour guides are knowledgeable would be a massive understatement; the highlight of the tour is the sunlit bedroom where the poet wrote many of her works. Next door is
Built in 1769 by William Harwood, the Georgian-style house known as Endview Plantation has witnessed momentous events in American history. Situated atop a knoll near a spring, Endview's land was traversed by Native Americans of the Powhatan Chiefdom a thousand years before the coming of the English. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Endview's owner, Dr. Humphrey Harwood Curtis, formed the Warwick Beauregards, which became Company H, 32nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry. During the subsequent Peninsula Campaign of 1862, Endview served as headquarters for Confederate generals Lafayette McLaws and Robert Toombs. Maintained today as a living-history museum, Endview offers a wide variety of programs; guided tours begin every 30 minutes.
Part of the literary legacy of Oak Park, this three-story, turreted Queen Anne Victorian, which stands in frilly contrast to the many streamlined Prairie-style homes elsewhere in the neighborhood, contains period-furnished rooms and many photos and artifacts pertaining to Hemingway's early life. Museum curators have restored rooms to faithfully depict the house as it looked at the turn of the 20th century. You can poke your head inside the one in which the author was born on July 21, 1899.
Built in 1717 by John Brush, a gunsmith, and later owned by Thomas Everard, who was twice mayor of Williamsburg, this wood-frame house contains remarkable, ornate carving work. It is open only for special-focus tours and temporary exhibits, and vignettes on slaves' lives are held here in summer.
Built in the 1850s, this 48-room Italianate mansion was the home of the 19th-century diplomat and collector John Work Garrett, whose father was president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (the Garrett family continued to live here until the 1950s). Garrett bequeathed the house, its contents (an exquisite collection of books, paintings, and porcelain), and 26 acres of grounds to Johns Hopkins University. He required that the estate remain open to "lovers of music, art, and beautiful things." A tour of the mansion is a fascinating look at the luxury that surrounded a rich American family at the turn of the 20th century.
Since 1891, this 37,500-square-foot brick Queen Anne–style structure, made entirely from materials from the Tar Heel State, with elaborate gingerbread trim and manicured lawns, has been the home of the state's governors. Encompassing an entire city block, the brick-walled gardens explode with color during the spring. Reservations for tours must be made at least two weeks in advance.
Henry Ford's Fair Lane blends a Scottish Baronial style with a simple Arts and Crafts design. Here, you'll get a look at the bowling alley where Ford used to shoot pins with his friends Thomas Edison and naturalist John Burroughs.
When music legend Fats Domino passed away in 2017, a city-wide second-line parade culminated at his former home in the Lower Ninth Ward: a black-and-yellow shotgun house emblazoned with the letters "F D", a bright reminder of the artist's dedication to the neighborhood. Blocks from where he was raised, Domino built this two-house compound in 1960, at the height of his musical career, and kept it as his homebase throughout decades on tour. While he spent his later years across the river in Harvey, Louisiana, it was in this house where Fats endured Katrina, and was later rescued by the Coast Guard (and visited by President G.W. Bush) after losing almost everything he owned. It remains an important neighborhood landmark.
The young novelist William Faulkner lived and wrote his first book, Soldiers' Pay, here in the 1920s. He later returned to his native Oxford, Mississippi, where his explorations of southern consciousness earned him the Nobel Prize for literature. The house is not open for tours, but the ground-floor apartment Faulkner inhabited is now a bookstore, Faulkner House Books, which specializes in local and southern writers. The house is also home to the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society literary group, which hosts an annual literary festival celebrating the writer's birthday.
With its elegant dark-wood paneling and floors, curved staircases, and a theatrical stage in the parlor, it's easy to envision how this 1907 mansion along Pasadena's Millionaire's Row once served as a gathering place for the city's elite (it also housed the Finnish consulate until 1965). Most rooms on the ground and second floors are still fitted with original furniture; you can peek into these roped-off spaces to get a sense of what life was like more than a century ago. The mansion, which has been used in many films, is part of the two-acre Pasadena Museum of History complex, which also includes the adjacent Finnish Folk Art Museum, the Curtin House, the Estate Garden, and the History Center with its galleries, which host rotating exhibits dedicated to the art and culture of Pasadena.
Archaeologist, collector, and noted Arts and Crafts tile maker Henry Mercer (1856–1930) designed his home, completed in 1912, creating what resembles a turreted 13th-century castle in fireproof, innovative reinforced concrete; it's stuffed with books, drawings, and, above all, tiles. The multilevel house was built without blueprints as a mazelike jumble of rooms (44 in all). Ancient tiles collected by Mercer and handcrafted Arts and Crafts tiles from his company's kilns (depicting scenes from the Bible, Dickens's Pickwick Papers, and more) cover floors, walls, columns, and ceilings. An hour-long tour—not for the claustrophobic—explains the amazing incrustations; reservations are suggested. Occasionally there are special, longer tours. Steps away, the TileWorks ( thetileworks.org) is Mercer's former tile factory; there are tours and a gift shop.
Built in 1884 as a private home for a local businessman, the Former Governor’s Mansion was turned into an official residence in the 1890s. North Dakota’s incumbent governors lived here until 1960, when it was converted into office space. From 1975 to 1984 it was restored, with different parts of the house reflecting different eras in its history. Today this elegant building serves as a museum and contains political memorabilia, period furnishings, and a permanent exhibit that details the transition from horse-and-buggy days to the modern automobile.
Built in 1850, this two-story, brick, Greek Revival townhouse is the former private residence of the architect who designed the Lanier and Shrewsbury–Windle houses. An architectural marvel due to the complex design and construction within a small space, it features twin fireplaces, egg-and-dart moldings, and a portico with two fluted columns capped with Corinthian capitals. Fine woodwork throughout is another testament to Costigan's skill as an architect. Period furniture and wallpaper provide a peek at late-1800s interior design.
One of the earliest brick houses in the Cuyahoga Valley, this Federal-style home built in 1827 on the banks of the Cuyahoga River belonged to Stephen and Mehitable Frazee, successful farmers who raised seven children in the home. The house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed with clay from the back yard and lumber from the property's walnut, chestnut, and oak trees. Historical documents show that after the Ohio & Erie Canal opened in 1827, the home likely served as an inn and tavern for travelers passing through along the canal.
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) is considered the nation's preeminent creator of parks. In 1883, while immersed in planning Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks, Olmsted set up his first permanent office at Fairsted, an 18-room farmhouse dating from 1810, to which he added another 18 rooms for his design offices. Plans and drawings on display include the U.S. Capitol grounds, Stanford University, and Mount Royal Park in Montréal. You can also tour the design rooms (some now in use as an archive library) where Olmsted and staff drew up their plans; highlights include a 1904 "electric blueprint machine," a kind of primitive photocopier.
The 1¾-acre site incorporates many trademark Olmstedian designs, including areas of meadow, wild garden, and woodland; Olmsted believed body and spirit could be healed through close association with nature. The site became part of the National Park Service in 1980; Olmsted's office played an influential role in the creation of this federal agency. Call ahead to inquire about house tour hours, which change with the seasons, though the grounds are open year-round.
This modernist property on a 46-acre site exhibits the works of American abstract artists Suzy Frelinghuysen and George L. K. Morris, as well as those of their contemporaries, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris. In addition to the paintings, frescoes, and sculptures on display, a 57-minute documentary on Frelinghuysen and Morris plays on a continuous loop. Tours are offered on the hour—just be aware that it's a long walk to the house. Painting demonstrations and workshops occasionally take place.
Robert Frost's year-round home from 1915 to 1920, this modest homestead on a peaceful unpaved road is surrounded by well-tended gardens and offers stunning mountain views. The place is imbued with the spirit of his work—two rooms contain memorabilia and signed editions of his books. Poetry readings are scheduled some summer evenings. Out back, you can follow short trails marked with lines from his poetry. The grounds are always open and beautiful for a stroll.
Irish-born James Gallier Jr. was one of the city's most famous 19th-century architects; he died in 1866, when a hurricane sank the paddle-steamer on which he was a passenger. This house, where he lived with his family, was built in 1857 and contains an excellent collection of early Victorian furnishings. During the holiday season, the entire house is filled with Christmas decorations. If you have watched the new TV series Interview with the Vampire, you may recognize the house as that belonging to Lestat de Lioncourt.
The last owner of this 1790s Georgian-style house was American artist Gari Melchers, who chaired the Smithsonian Commission to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington. His wife, Corinne, deeded the 27-acre estate and its collections to Virginia. The home is now a public museum and a Virginia National Historic Landmark administered by the University of Mary Washington. You can take a one-hour tour of the spacious house, which is furnished with a rich collection of the owners' antiques. Galleries in the stone studio, built by the Melchers in 1924, house the largest repository of the artist's work. An orientation movie is shown in the reception area, which was once the carriage house.
Originally built in 1893 by Stanford White for Robert Garrett, the president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, this mansion was the largest and most expensive ever constructed in Baltimore (the neighbors objected to its size). After Garrett died in 1896, his widow, Mary, and her second husband, Dr. Henry Barton Jacobs, had John Russell Pope build an extension of equal size. A spectacular stained glass dome, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, is one highlight. Call ahead to book a tour.
The oldest wooden house in San Diego houses the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation, the district's curator. Before developer Alonzo Horton came to town, Davis, a prominent San Franciscan, had made an unsuccessful attempt to develop the waterfront area. In 1850 he had this prefab saltbox-style house, built in Maine, shipped around Cape Horn and assembled in San Diego (it originally stood at State and Market streets). Pre-booked private tours of the home are available on Tuesdays (starting at $20) and general admission runs Wednesday through Sunday (starting at $8). Walking tours ($25) of the historic district leave from the house on Thursday at 3 pm and Saturday at 11 am, and themed tours are also available depending on the season, such as a 30-minute "Strange & Spooky" tour in fall.
The cherubs featured in the effusive ironwork on this distinctive house stops people in the street. Built in 1856, this mansion and its service buildings were once the estate of businessman John Gauche, who lived there until 1882. Although the privately owned house is not open to the public, its exterior still merits a visit to snap a few photos.
The General Philip Schuyler House was the general's country home before its destruction by the British in 1777. Schuyler and his soldiers rebuilt it in 29 days. The house includes some original furnishings. It's open from late May through Labor Day, Wednesday through Friday 9:30–4:30; tours are given every half hour.
This home was the residence of Thomas Jefferson's law professor; Wythe was also a signer of the Declaration of Independence. General Washington used the house as a headquarters just before his victory at Yorktown. The large brick structure, built in the mid-18th century, is conspicuously symmetrical: each side has a chimney, and each floor has two rooms on either side of a center hallway. The garden in back is similarly divided. The outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen, laundry, outhouses, and a chicken coop, are reconstructions.
Through the foresight of an eccentric bon vivant, this house provides an authentic glimpse into daily life in Boston's Victorian era. One of the first Back Bay residences (1859), the Gibson House is relatively modest in comparison with some of the grand mansions built during the decades that followed; yet its furnishings, from its 1795 Willard clock to the raised and gilded wallpaper to the multipiece faux-bamboo bedroom set, seem sumptuous to modern eyes. Unlike other Back Bay houses, the Gibson family home has been preserved with all its Victorian fixtures and furniture intact. The house served as an interior for the 1984 Merchant Ivory film The Bostonians, as well as the 2019 movie Little Women. The museum is only open to the public by hourly guided tours Thursday 3 pm to 5 pm, and Friday and Saturday 1 pm to 3 pm with suggested advance ticket purchase.
One of Bay Shore's oldest houses and home to the historical society, this restored 1820s tradesman's house is authentically furnished and has on its property a Victorian herb garden, a chicken coop, and a two-seater outhouse. The research library in the basement contains antique postcards, old newspapers, maps, and books about the Bay Shore/Brightwaters area. Temporary exhibits display memorabilia and artifacts related to topics ranging from the world wars to crafts and sports.
Built in 1750, the authentically restored childhood home of one of America's foremost portrait artists—his image of George Washington graces the $1 bill—is set on 23 woodsy acres in Saunderstown containing a scenic millpond and stream, Colonial herb gardens, nature trails, and a fish ladder. The fully restored gristmill here has the original granite millstones used to grind local whitecap flint corn into cornmeal. Inside the Stuart home is a snuff mill, used to grind tobacco and still turned by water power. Stuart painted more than 1,000 portraits, including those of the first six U.S. presidents. The Welcome Center and Bell Art Gallery exhibits the works of Stuart and his daughter, also a painter, along with works by local and other artists. Guided tours take place at 11 am and 1 pm; self-guided tours are also available.
Built between 1928 and 1939, this neo-Romanesque 90-room former home of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn, now houses the family's collection of antiques that were gathered by John and his son Raymond. The house has some fantastic details, but the best part is walking into old bedrooms that now serve as galleries for ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, African, Native American, and Sumerian artworks as well as a fantastic basement gallery full of 13th-century European stained glass and sculpture. The view from the observation deck, 149 feet up, is worth the tight elevator ride up there.
