Historic Jamestowne is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America. Visitors begin their visit at the Visitor Center with exhibits and an immersion theater experience. They can then tour the Archaearium, which tells the story of James Fort through archaeology; share the moment of discovery with archaeologists and witness archaeology-in-action at the 1607 James Fort excavation; tour the reconstructed 17th-century Jamestown Memorial Church and original 17th-century church tower; take a walking tour with a park ranger through the New Towne area along the scenic James River; "meet" a 17th-century personality; and watch costumed glassblowers at the Glasshouse. A driving tour explores the lush natural setting where exhibits explain how the settlers harnessed that wilderness for their needs.

The site offers exhibits, tours, living history demonstrations and events, and educational and recreational events and programs.

Built sometime between 1751 and 1765, the story-and-a-half brick house is laid in Flemish bond and was home to Jacob Faulcon and his family. It has been fully restored and has a fine collection of English and American furnishings. Today, visitors can see the site of the retreat fort, the house, and its small herb garden.

The house offers tours.

With its cruciform shape, triple chimneys, and curvilinear gables, Bacon's Castle is a rare surviving example of Jacobean architecture in America. Built in 1665, the house was home to a prosperous planter, Arthur Allen. Visitors today can step back to the late 17th and early 18th century through the doors of Bacon's Castle. Using the Allen's inventories from 1711 and 1755, furnishings have been selected to interpret daily life.

The house offers tours.

Francis Thelaball II built this house with its massive chimneys in 1725. Typical of early colonial planters' homes, the Lynnhaven House features a hall-parlor plan with molded ceiling joists and a closed string Jacobean-type stair. Furnishings reflect the early 18th century. Costumed docents conduct tours of the House and grounds as guests arrive. On the grounds are gardens and a small Revolutionary War graveyard.

The house offers short films, tours, exhibits, and recreational and educational events.

Pear Valley represents a rare survival of what was once a common building type in rural Virginia. This yeoman planter's cottage has been dated by to 1740.

The site offers tours by appointment.

Before European settlement, Native Americans planted their crops of corn and beans on Conanicut Island overlooking Narragansett Bay. In 1789, Job Watson purchased a piece of this rich farmland, and for the next two centuries, five successive generations of the Watson family cultivated the land, changing their crops and practices as needed to adapt to the evolving market. Today, the property is still a working family farm. The farmers raise cattle and sheep for beef, lamb, and wool markets; grow acres of grass for winter hay supplies; make compost for fertilizer; and cultivate a large vegetable garden. The 1796 house, still used as the farmers' residence, is not open to the public. Visitors are welcome to explore the farmland on their own, following a self-guided walking tour. Educational programs and group tours are available by appointment.

The farm offers tours and educational programs.

Cogswell's Grant was the summer home of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little, preeminent collectors of American decorative arts in the mid 20th century. Through her research and innumerable publications, Mrs. Little charted new areas of American folk art (which she preferred to call "country arts"), such as decorative painting, floor coverings, boxes, and New England pottery. In 1937, the Littles purchased this 18th-century farmhouse overlooking the Essex River as a family retreat and place to entertain. They restored it carefully, trying to preserve original 18th-century finishes and carefully documenting their work. In more than 50 years of collecting, they sought works of strong, even quirky character, and in particular favored objects with their original finishes and New England histories. They decorated the house for visual delight rather than historic accuracy. The result is rich in atmosphere and crowded with collections of things—primitive paintings, redware, painted furniture, stacked Shaker boxes, weather vanes, and decoys—that have since come to define the country look.

The house offers tours.

The 1683 Pierce House is a rare known surviving example in the Boston area of a 17th century or First Period house. It documents period building practices, and the tastes and housing needs of one family, the Pierces, over more than three centuries. At different times, family members expanded and adapted their dwelling to meet new demands for space, function, comfort, privacy, and cleanliness.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

The Cooper-Frost-Austin House is clearly documented as the oldest dwelling still standing in the City of Cambridge. Built by Samuel Cooper in 1681, the house was one of the earliest examples of an integral lean-to "half house." Other original features include a pilaster chimney and a facade gable.

The home offers tours.

The Otis House Museum exemplifies the elegant life led by Boston's governing class after the American Revolution. Harrison Gray Otis made a fortune developing nearby Beacon Hill, served as a Representative in Congress, and later was Mayor of Boston. He and his wife Sally were noted for their frequent and lavish entertaining. This was the first of three houses designed for the Otises by their friend Charles Bulfinch, the architect of the Massachusetts State House. Built in 1796, its design reflects the proportions and delicate detail of the Federal style, which Bulfinch introduced to Boston. The interior provides insights into social, business, and family life, as well as the role played by household servants. The restoration of the Otis House, with its brilliantly colored wallpapers and carpeting, and high-style furnishings, is based on meticulous historical and scientific research.

The house offers tours, research library access, and recreational and educational programs.