490 Best Sights in USA

The 1787 Georgian house was the home of Philip Van Rensselaer, one of the region's original Dutch settlers. Guided tours focus on Catherine Putnam, Rensselaer's niece, who lived in the house during the Civil War and World Wars I and II. The collection of family memorabilia encompasses more than 20,000 objects, including furniture, artworks, kitchen items, and pottery pieces; 3,000 photographs; and extensive documents and records. To visit the house you must take the tour, which lasts about an hour and starts on the hour. Note that Cherry Hill is closed currently for restoration.

Historic Cranbrook House and Gardens is an Arts and Crafts-style mansion designed by Albert Kahn for newspaper publisher George Booth and his wife, Ellen. Situated on a 319-acre National Historic Landmark campus, the house, the oldest surviving manor house in the Detroit area, has lead-glass windows, beautiful art objects, and formal gardens with fountains and sculpture.

The 17th-century tobacco port of London, on the South River a short car ride from Annapolis, was made up of 40 dwellings, shops, and taverns. London all but disappeared in the 18th century, its buildings abandoned and left to decay, but one of the few remaining original Colonial structures is a three-story brick house, built by William Brown between 1758 and 1764, with dramatic river views. Newly reconstructed buildings include a tenement for lower-class workers, a carpenter's shop, and a barn. Guests can walk around on their own or take a 30-minute docent-led tour. Allow more time to wander the house grounds, woodland gardens, and a visitor center with an interactive exhibit on the area's archaeology and history.

Almost a century before Virginia Tech's founding in 1872, the Historic Smithfield plantation was built in what was then the frontier wilds. Aristocratic colonist and Revolutionary War patriot William Preston moved his family to the estate in 1774, a year before the war began. Among his descendants were three Virginia governors and four U.S. senators. Today costumed interpreters, authentic period furniture, and Native American artifacts reveal how different life in the New River valley was more than two centuries ago.

Seen on a guided tour focused on the mansion's history and its furnishings, the largest of Fairmount Park's historic houses has antiques, art, and furniture from the Federal and Empire period. On display is rare Tucker and Hemphill porcelain, and the house also showcases antique dolls and toys. Rooms have been decorated by different groups, some in Colonial Revival style. The house was originally built around 1783–93 by Judge William Lewis, an abolitionist lawyer. The Committee of 1926, the stewardship group that operates the mansion, has events for the 2026 Semiquincentennial celebrations including a summer art exhibition featuring contemporary local artists and a look at the legacy of the city's 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition.

home of the Historical Society of Kent County, is a splendid Federal-style home containing 18th-century furniture and an impressive teapot collection, a historical library, and a shop. It's a good place to begin a visit to Chestertown.

Rice, not cotton, dominated Georgia's coast in the antebellum years, and the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation is the last remaining example of a way of life that fueled an agricultural empire. The main farmhouse, in use since the 1850s when the original house burned, is now a museum with family heirlooms accumulated over five generations, including extensive collections of silver and Canton china. A guide gives an insightful talk on rural plantation life. Though grown over, some of the original dike works and rice fields remain, as do some of the slave quarters. A brief film at the visitor center complements exhibits on rice technology and cultivation, linking them to Sierra Leone, the country from which many slaves were taken because of their expertise in growing rice.

This old-school roadside attraction, 12 miles south of Moab, may look a bit questionable from the road, but it's a worthwhile stop. A short tour takes you inside the 14-room, 5,000-square-foot home that former owners Albert and Gladys Christensen carved and blasted into solid rock. Beyond the impressive cave dwelling is a petting zoo, available for a separate entrance fee. A small convenience store has drinks, snacks, and ice cream for those really warm desert days.

The headquarters of the History Cambridge historical society, this Georgian mansion was built in 1685 and is one of the oldest houses in New England. It has been remodeled at least six times while still maintaining much of the original structure. The downstairs is elegantly, although sparsely, appointed with period books, portraits, and wallpaper. An upstairs bedroom has been furnished with period antiques, some belonging to the original residents. Check the website for special events including public art installations, and to see a virtual tour of the house.

In 1885 Dr. Henry Minthorn invited his orphan nephew Herbert "Bertie" Hoover to come west and join the Minthorn family in Newberg. Built in 1881, the restored frame house, the oldest and most significant of Newberg's original structures, still has many of its original furnishings, including the president's boyhood bed and dresser. Hoover maintained his connection to Newberg, and visited several times after his presidency.

Built in 1735, this National Historic Landmark overlooks the North Santee River and is surrounded by moss-draped live oaks, magnolias, and tree-size camellias. The mansion has a fine Georgian staircase and hand-carved lighted-candle moldings. In addition to house tours, daily programs focused on the lives of the enslaved people who worked here and the Gullah culture of their descendents are available, and sweetgrass basket-weaving workshops are held on Thursday. The River Oak Cottage Tea Room on-site serves a full menu of Southern treats.

This restored antebellum home was built in two periods: its present-day second floor was actually constructed first, in 1850, and in 1884 the house was elevated and a new first floor added. The extensive dollhouse collection includes 60 historically accurate, scale-model miniatures of Victorian, Tudor, and plantation-style houses and covers more than 3,000 square feet on the mansion's second floor. All were created by owner Bonnie Broel over a 15-year period. Visitors can only view the property on tours, which can fill up, so it's best to call ahead.

Immortalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel, this site is itself a historic treasure. Built in 1668 and also known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the house includes the famous secret staircase, a re-creation of Hepzibah's scent shop from The House of Seven Gables, and some of the finest Georgian interiors in the country. Also on the property is the small house where Hawthorne was born in 1804; built in 1750, it was moved from its original location a few blocks away. To visit the house, you must join a guided tour.

John Wesley Hunt, the first millionaire west of the Appalachians, built this Federal-style house in Lexington's Gratz Park district in the early 1800s. His grandson, John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate cavalry officer. Family furniture decorates the house, which also has a small Civil War museum.

The oldest house owned and maintained by the Preservation Society of Newport County, constructed between 1748 and 1754, Hunter House served as the Revolutionary War headquarters of French admiral Charles Louis d'Arsac de Ternay after the home's Loyalist owner fled the city. Featuring a balustraded gambrel roof and heavy stud construction, it is an excellent example of early Georgian Colonial architecture. The carved pineapple over the doorway was a symbol of welcome throughout Colonial America. A collection of Colonial furniture includes pieces crafted by Newport's famed 18th-century Townsend--Goddard family of cabinetmakers and paintings by Cosmo Alexander, Gilbert Stuart, and Samuel King. The house is named for William Hunter, a U.S. Senator and President Andrew Jackson's chargé d'affaires to Brazil.

Built in 1783, this log cabin on South Hero is often cited as the country's oldest surviving specimen. It's now home to the Grand Isle Historical Society.

Revolutionary in design when it was completed in 1883, the shingle-style Isaac Bell House combines Old English and European architecture with Colonial American and exotic details, such as a sweeping open floor plan and bamboo-style porch columns. McKim, Mead & White of New York City designed the home for Isaac Bell, a wealthy cotton broker.

When he designed this house in 1896, Frank Lloyd Wright was still moving toward the mature Prairie style achieved in the Robie House 13 years later. As was common with Wright's designs, Heller House is entered from the side. But rather than being long and low, this one has three floors, the uppermost one of which comes complete with pillars and sculptured nymphs. The building is not open to the public.

Jazz enthusiasts would do well to follow Frenchmen Street beyond the borders of the Marigny to pay homage to Jelly Roll Morton at the pianist and composer's modest former home, now a private residence with nary a plaque to suggest its importance. The current residents, however, have put a photo of the musician in the window. Morton was a "Creole of color" (free African American of mixed race), a clear distinction in those days—Morton himself always described his roots as "French." The neighborhood has declined some since Morton's days, so plan for a daytime walk-by.

Dating to 1769, the oldest dwelling in Raleigh was the home of Joel Lane, known as the "Father of Raleigh" because he sold 1,000 acres of his property to the state of North Carolina on which the beginnings of the capital city were built. Costumed docents lead tours of the restored house and beautiful period gardens. The last tour starts an hour before closing: 1 pm Wednesday through Friday, and 3 on Saturday.

Rhode Island's most famous 18th-century home was the stately residence of John Brown, a wealthy businessman, slave trader, politician, and China trade merchant. John Quincy Adams called the home, designed in late-Georgian, early-Federal style and the first mansion built in Providence, "the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent." An ardent patriot, Brown was a noteworthy participant in the defiant burning of the British customs ship Gaspee in 1772—which, Rhode Islanders will remind you, took place 18 months before the Boston Tea Party. Tours are by reservation.

This was home to John Dickinson, one of America's founders, and his former dwelling gives visitors a glimpse of 18th-century plantation life in Delaware's Kent County. Tour guides in costume depict characters from the era, enabling visitors to understand the contrasting lifestyles of the wealthy Dickinson family and those of their tenants, poor whites, slaves, and free blacks during the 1700s and early 1800s.

This was the home of the 35th president from his birth on May 29, 1917, until 1921, when the family moved to nearby Naples and Abbottsford streets. Rose Kennedy provided the furnishings for the restored 2½-story, wood-frame structure. You can pick up a brochure for a walking tour of Kennedy's school, church, and neighborhood. To get here, take the MBTA Green Line to Coolidge Corner and walk north on Harvard Street four blocks. The house is open seasonally (usually beginning in June) and by appointment. Ongoing renovations mean parts of the home may be closed. Call in advance to confirm hours.

Built and maintained by the forced labor of enslaved people, this 1805 Federal-style mansion has been restored and furnished as it would have been prior to a visit by Marquis de Lafayette in 1825. It was the headquarters for Union forces during the Civil War. The house museum also features historical photographs, a diorama of Bay Street in 1863, and an exhibit about the remarkable Beaufort-born Robert Smalls, who during the Civil War famously commandeered a Confederate ship to escape from slavery with his family. Run by Historic Beaufort Foundation, the museum offers docent-guided tours every half hour.

John Marshall (1755–1835) was chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court for 34 years—longer than any other. Appointed to the court by President John Adams, Marshall also served as secretary of state and ambassador to France. The Federal-style red brick house, built in 1790, is fully restored and furnished, with a mix of period pieces and heirlooms.

Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones lived at this boardinghouse while he supervised construction of the USS America for the Continental Navy. The 1758 hip-roof building displays furniture, costumes, glass, guns, portraits, and documents from the late 18th century. The collection's specialty is textiles, among them some extraordinary early-19th-century embroidery samplers.

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 used 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. It is the stories contained within the home that are the most captivating, as opposed to the house itself. 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, along with what is now the Mennonite church behind it. 

Friday and Saturday tours are offered year-round by online appointment only.

An extraordinary example of Federal architecture, this 1803 residence and National Historic Landmark reflects the urban lifestyle of a well-to-do rice-planting family and the African people they enslaved. Engaging guided tours reveal a stunning spiral staircase, rooms that have been preserved in period style, and American, English, and French furniture from the early 19th century. While the tour is supposed to touch on urban enslavement, the amount of information provided about the lives of the hundreds of people enslaved by Manigault—including those forced to labor at this address—varies by docent. 

Outside, stroll through the artfully maintained period garden; unfortunately, most of the historic outbuildings were torn down long ago, now replaced with interpretive signs that note their former locations.

The house where General Joshua Chamberlain resided for 50 years is now a museum documenting the life of Maine’s most celebrated Civil War hero. In addition to playing an instrumental role in the Union Army's victory at Gettysburg, Chamberlain served as Maine's governor from 1867 to 1871 and as president of Bowdoin College from 1871 to 1883. There's also a statue of him across the street, on the edge of the Bowdoin College campus.

A five-story cast-iron building from 1870, 101 Spring Street was the New York home and studio of minimalist artist Donald Judd. Although SoHo used to be home to many single-use cast-iron buildings, this designated historic building is one of the few that remain. Judd bought it in 1968, and today, guided 75-minute tours (book online, as early as possible, since tours sell out weeks in advance) explore his living and working spaces, offset with art installations arranged prior to his death in 1994. Note that climbing five flights of stairs is required and photos aren’t allowed.