Hamilton House [Maine]

Description

After railroads made the region accessible in the late 19th century, coastal Maine became a fashionable destination for wealthy summer people. Many of the newcomers bought and restored the fine old houses built during the prosperous years following the American Revolution. In 1898, Mrs. Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter, Elise, purchased the c. 1785 Hamilton House, built on a site overlooking the Salmon Falls River. The Tysons flung themselves into a lifelong project to restore the house to its former glory. Influenced by literary imagery, including the writings of their neighbor and friend, Sarah Orne Jewett, they decorated with a mixture of elegant antiques, painted murals, and simple country furnishings to create their own romantic interpretation of America's colonial past.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Little Compton Historical Society and Wilbor House Museum [RI]

Description

Wilbor House, the Society's headquarters, stands on land purchased from the Sakonnet Indians in 1673. Built by Samuel Wilbore in about 1690, the original house consisted of only two rooms, one above the other, and a cramped stairway and attic. It was typical of 17th-century New England. Today, one unusual feature of Wilbor House is that it spans three centuries and contains rooms representative of each.

The house offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Wynnewood [TN]

Description

Wynnewood is the largest extant log structure in Tennessee. It was built in 1828 by A. R. Wynne, William Cage, and Stephen Roberts as a stagecoach inn on the Nashville-Knoxville Road. In 1834, Wynne purchased his partners' interests and moved his family into the inn, where he resided until his death in 1893. Throughout Wynne's lifetime, guests were received at the house, attracted partially by the reputed medicinal powers of the mineral waters and the scenic beauty of the area. Today the spring waters still flow and visitors may see the site where Thomas Sharp ("Big Foot") Spencer spent the winter of 1778–79 in a hollow sycamore tree.

The site offers tours.

Osborne Homestead Museum [CT]

Description

Adjacent to the rolling hills and open meadows of Osbornedale State Park, the recently renovated Osborne Homestead Museum encompasses the house and grounds of the former Frances Osborne Kellogg Estate. Originally constructed in the mid-1800s, the house was enlarged and completely remodeled in the Colonial Revival style during the 1920s. Its restored interior now displays the original contents of the estate, which constitutes a significant collection of antiques and fine arts.

The site offers tours, exhibits, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Montauk Historic Site [IA]

Description

Visitors can journey into the past at the home of Iowa's 12th governor, William Larrabee and Anna Larrabee, his wife. They can enjoy a guided tour to see and hear how the Larrabee family furnished and maintained this 1874 vintage brick and natural limestone mansion for more than 100 years. All of the furnishings are original to the house.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Historic Deerfield [MA]

Description

In historic Deerfield, visitors can step back into early America as they tour 11 house museums, exploring hundreds of years of history along an original, mile-long street. Two houses, the Stebbins House and Sheldon House, are available for self-guided tours all day during the regular season.

The site offers exhibits, tours, workshops, educational programs, research library access, and recreational and educational events.

Thomas P. Kennard House [NE]

Description

Dedicated as the Nebraska Statehood Memorial in 1968, the Kennard House is the oldest standing structure in Lincoln's original plat. At the 1869 Italianate home of Nebraska's first Secretary of State, Thomas P. Kennard, visitors will learn about the excitement of creating a new state capital, and see the formality of Victorian lifestyles. The oldest residence in Lincoln has been restored to the 1870s with tours available year round.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society [CT]

Description

Built circa 1748, the Noah Webster House is the restored birthplace and childhood home of the lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843). Today, the museum building includes the historical house, library, archives, and a modern exhibition gallery.

The house and society offer exhibits, tours, reference library access, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

Fendall Hall [AL]

Description

Fendall Hall is one of Alabama's outstanding Italianate houses and contains elaborate and rare interior decorative painting dating from the 1880s. Completed in 1860 by Edward and Anna Young, it was home to five generations of the Young family. Among its many treasures are family and period furnishings, marble mantles, and a black and white marble tiled entry. The five-acre site includes gardens and archaeological features.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Sparta Rock House [TN]

Description

The small, stone Rock House, originally built to collect tolls on a private road, was built between 1835 and 1839 by Barlow Fiske, who operated a stagecoach inn and stables nearby. It played an important role in the early development of Tennessee's transportation system. Andrew Jackson often stopped here on trips from Nashville to Washington. Other notable visitors included James K. Polk, Sam Houston, and Frank Clement, all once governors of the Volunteer State.

The house offers tours.