Kingscote is a landmark of the Gothic Revival style in American architecture. Its appearance in Newport marked the beginning of the "cottage boom" that would distinguish the town as a veritable laboratory for the design of picturesque houses throughout the 19th century. In 1839 Southern planter George Noble Jones commissioned architect Richard Upjohn to design a summer cottage along a country road, known as Bellevue Avenue, on the outskirts of town. Upjohn created a highly original "cottage orne," or ornamental cottage, in the Gothic Revival style. The general effect was romantic—a fanciful composition of towers, windows, Gothic arches, and porch roofs inspired by medieval tournament tents. At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Jones family left Newport never to return, and the house was sold in 1864 to China Trade merchant William Henry King. His nephew David took over the house in 1876, and several years later decided to enlarge Kingscote. He engaged the firm of McKim, Mead, and White to make the renovations, including the new dining room. The room combines Colonial American details with exotic ornament—reflecting the architects' interest in combining eastern and western motifs. The innovative use of materials was also important, such as cork tiles as a covering for the wall frieze and ceiling, and an early installation of opalescent glass bricks by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The house remained in the King family until 1972, when the last descendant left it to the Preservation Society. Today, Kingscote is a National Historic Landmark. It is a rare example of a Gothic Revival house and landscape setting preserved intact with original family collections.

The house offers tours.

Chateau-sur-Mer is a landmark of High Victorian architecture, furniture, wallpapers, ceramics, and stenciling. It was the most palatial residence in Newport from its completion in 1852 until the appearance of the Vanderbilt houses in the 1890s. It was the scene of memorable entertainments, from the "Fete Champetre," an elaborate country picnic for over two thousand guests held in 1857, to the debutante ball for Miss Edith Wetmore in 1889. Chateau-sur-Mer's grand scale and lavish parties ushered in the Gilded Age of Newport. Chateau-sur-Mer was built as an Italianate-style villa for China trade merchant William Shepard Wetmore. Mr. Wetmore died in 1862, leaving the bulk of his fortune to his son, George Peabody Wetmore, and a generous allowance for his daughter, Annie Derby Wetmore. George married Edith Keteltas in 1869. During the 1870s, the young couple departed on an extended trip to Europe, leaving architect Richard Morris Hunt to remodel and redecorate the house in the Second Empire French style. As a result, Chateau-sur-Mer displays most of the major design trends of the last half of the 19th century.

The house offers tours.

This small country estate in Portsmouth was purchased in 1877 by Thomas E. Brayton (1844–1939), Treasurer of the Union Cotton Manufacturing Company in Fall River, Massachusetts. It consisted of seven acres of land, a white clapboard summer residence, farm outbuildings, a pasture, and a vegetable garden. Gardener Joseph Carreiro, superintendent of the property from 1905 to 1945, and his son-in-law, George Mendonca, superintendent until 1985, were responsible for creating the topiaries. There are 80 pieces of topiary throughout the gardens, including 21 animals and birds in addition to geometric figures and ornamental designs, sculpted from California privet, yew, and English boxwood. Green Animals is the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States. Mr. Brayton's daughter Alice gave the estate its name because of the profusion of "green animals." She made the estate her permanent residence in 1939. Upon her death in 1972, at the age of 94, Miss Brayton left Green Animals to The Preservation Society of Newport County. Today, Green Animals remains as a rare example of a self-sufficient estate combining formal topiaries, vegetable and herb gardens, orchards, and a Victorian house overlooking Narragansett Bay.

The site offers tours.

Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini.

The mansion offers tours.

Built in 1851, the first house in the elegant neighborhood Lucas Place, the Campbell House was the home of renowned fur trader and entrepreneur Robert Campbell and his family from 1854 until 1938. The museum contains hundreds of original Campbell possessions including furniture, paintings, clothing, letters, carriages, and a unique set of interior photographs taken in the mid-1880s.

The museum offers tours, educational programs, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The St. James's House was built around 1768 and is one of the few 18th-century frame houses still standing in Fredericksburg. The house is particularly noted for the collection of antique furniture and decorative arts assembled by Daniel Breslin and William Tolerton, who restored St. James's in the mid-1960s. St. James's represents Messrs Breslin's and Tolerton's interpretation of an 18th-century townhouse in that the furnishings are probably more formal than what would have been in the house during the time of its original owner.

The house is open for tours by appointment.

The Society maintains a restored 1870s farm house as the Greece Museum, featuring exhibits of local history. Visitors can bridge the years by stepping into the new museum wing and wandering through the gallery of historical exhibits. They can take a look at the town's first fire wagon, imagine our ancestors harvesting ice from a lakeside pond, contemplate transportation before the automobile, or study the Native American encampment on Long Pond.

The society offers occasional recreational and educational events; the museum offers exhibits.

The Guild manages this site for the Ohio Historical Society. Formerly the home of Eleutherus Cooke, this 1840s stone-and-brick home was moved to its current location in 1874. Sandusky's first lawyer, Cooke was also a politician serving in the Ohio Legislature and U.S. Congress. The home is restored to its 1950s appearance, but contains several interesting pieces of antique furniture from the 19th century. Exhibits on the history of the house are in the basement.

A second website for the house, maintained by the Old House Guild, can be found here.

The site offers exhibits and tours.

Finished in 1913, Trail End was the home of the John B. Kendrick family. He was a cowboy who came up the Texas Trail in 1879, made his money in ranching and real estate, and later served as Wyoming's Governor and U.S. Senator. Trail End's Flemish Revival design and technologically-advanced interior are unique to the Rocky Mountain west. Today's visitors can enjoy 3.8 acres of groomed grounds (containing hundreds of indigenous and exotic trees) and a fully-restored historic house museum (mostly original furniture), plus regular productions at the Carriage House Theater.

A second website for this site can be found here.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, research library access, and performances.

Inside the walls of the History Museum, the past comes alive through the stories, photographs, and artifacts of people of the Fox Valley. The museum's mission is to inspire appreciation for the rich history of the Fox River Valley area communities through the collections, exhibits, and education at the History Museum at the Castle. Owned and operated by the Outagamie County Historical Society, the Museum holds collections representing the history of the Fox Valley dating back to 1840s.

The museum offers exhibits, performances, workshops, tours, research library access, educational programs, and other educational and recreational events. As well as Virtual Exhibits, a wide variety of curricula and lessons – all aligned to WI State Learning Standards, and a multitude of primary sources accessible online!