The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Take a virtual road trip around the country through the lens of America's most historic and storied homes. From Gilded Age mansions to humble farmsteads, here are our picks for the most beloved historic homes in each of the nation's 50 states.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
It's almost impossible to believe that the crown jewel of Demopolis began as a modest dogtrot cabin; in the years between 1843 and 1861, owner and amateur architect General Nathan Bryan Whitfield expanded and refined the building into what it is today—one of Alabama's most spectacular Greek Revival homes.
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Honorable Mention: The Hank Williams Boyhood Home in Georgiana, where you can relax on the very porch where the country great honed his skills.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Though Imperial Russia played an enormous role in the development of Alaska, few examples of its colonial architecture survive in the state. However, the Russian Bishop's House, completed in 1842, is a rare throwback to when Sitka was known as New Archangel and served as the Russian colonial capital.
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Honorable Mention: The Oscar Anderson House, one of the oldest homes in Anchorage and its only house museum.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
In 1929, Chewing Gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. began building his eclectic, Spanish colonial-style mansion high on a knoll overlooking Phoenix. He died shortly after its completion, but today, aptly-named tour packages of the home keep his spirit alive—opt for the "Doublemint," the "Big Red," or the "Juicyfruit."Find more information here.
Honorable Mention: Scottsdale's Taliesin West, the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, which now serves as the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The Man in Black came from humble roots; his boyhood home was part of Dyess Colony, a project of the New Deal that was established to provide shelter and income for approximately 500 poor farm families. Thanks to a recent restoration, Cash's boyhood home is furnished just as it would have been in the 1930s, when the family first lived there.
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Honorable Mention: A trip to Arkansas wouldn't be complete without a visit to a home designed by renowned local architect E. Fay Jones. Heber Springs' Stoneflower would be a great place to start.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Did the Full House theme song just pop into your head? Undoubtedly the most photographed streetscape in California—if not the country—is San Francisco's famous Postcard Row, constructed by a single developer between 1892 and 1896. There's no peeking inside, unfortunately—the "seven sisters" are privately owned. But that doesn't stop you from enjoying a vibrant pastel tableau from your picnic spot in Alamo Square, located across the street.
Honorable Mention: The bizarrely captivating Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, an eccentric Victorian mansion rife with architectural oddities.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Plenty of mediocre homes become museums on account of their famous residents. Titanic legend Margaret "Molly" Brown's house is an exception; not only was the residence home to one of history's most illustrious women, it also happens to be an incredible piece of eclectic, Victorian-era architecture. But, like all good historic homes, the structure nearly didn't make it. When Historic Denver was incorporated in 1970, the group made a successful plea to save the home from the threat of urban renewal that sacrificed so many of the city's historic treasures.
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Honorable Mention: The space-age, elliptical Sleeper House in Golden, so called for its appearance in the 1973 Woody Allen movie of the same name.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Samuel Clemens was known to be enamored with the 11?500 sq. ft Hartford home he shared with his wife Olivia in the years between 1874 and 1891, during which he published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and numerous other works. "It is a home—and the word never had so much meaning before," the author famously said. Having been saved from the wrecking ball by a family friend nearly a century ago, the Gothic Revival style house looks as elegant today as it did in Twain's time.
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Honorable Mention: The Glass House, Philip Johnson's Modernist masterpiece.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The state of Delaware is practically synonymous with the DuPont family, whose legacy lives on in a handful of spectacular mansions clustered around the Wilmington area (known affectionately as "Chateau Country"). Alfred DuPont must have adored his second wife, Alicia, as he commissioned the prestigious New York firm of Carrère & Hastings (architects of the New York Public Library) to build her a 102-room, country estate with landscape designs based on the gardens of Versailles. Visit Nemours to stroll portions of the property's 300 magnificent acres.
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Honorable Mention: Winterthur, Henry Francis du Pont's childhood home, now a renowned museum of American decorative arts.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Approximately 40 to 50 polydactyl (six-toed) cats now inhabit the Key West home in which Ernest Hemingway lived with his wife from 1931 to 1940. Interesting though the animals may be, the circa 1851 Spanish Colonial style house itself is the real showstopper here. But it wasn't always this way—originally dating to 1851, the home had fallen into total disrepair by the time the Hemingways purchased it eighty years later. The couple was responsible for the restoration that ultimately made this one of America's most beloved homes.
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Honorable Mention: Ca' d'Zan, circus mogul John Ringling's flashy Sarasota estate, which just might be the greatest show on Earth.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Originally designed for the great-grandfather of songwriter Johnny Mercer around the time of the Civil War, the historic home was purchased and later restored by preservationist and antiques dealer Jim Williams in 1969. It became one of Savannah, Georgia's "must see" tourist attractions after the 1994 publication of Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil, which loosely chronicled the real-life trial of Williams after he was accused of murdering Danny Hansford in the home's study (Williams was ultimately acquitted).
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Honorable Mention: The Twelve Oaks Bed & Breakfast in Covington, which is believed to have served as the inspiration for Margaret Mitchell's fictional Twelve Oaks in the movie Gone With the Wind.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
After traveling though the Islamic world on their honeymoon in 1935, Doris Duke and her new husband made a final stop in Hawaii, where they fell in love with the local culture. The following year, the heiress purchased a 4.9-acre plot of land on the Honolulu waterfront and commissioned the construction of a home that would showcase her newfound interest in Islamic Art and architecture. Shangri La operates today as a museum showcasing the expansive collection of Middle Eastern artwork that Duke collected over the course of her lifetime.
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Honorable Mention: Liljestrand House, considered by many to be Hawaii's finest example of mid-century modern architecture.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Pocatello's Standrod Mansion is one of the few homes in Idaho built in the Chateauesque style (think North Carolina's Biltmore Estate), which takes cues from ornamental French chateaus. Also unlike others in the vicinity, this one was built primarily using local sandstone. Locals say that ghosts of the original occupants still roam the premises of the opulent mini-castle. Which begs the question: Can you blame them?
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Honorable Mention: The McConnell Mansion, the state's only surviving Eastlake-style home.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
One cannot think of architecture in Illinois without thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright. The state was his playground, and Oak Park contains the most extensive collection of Wright homes anywhere in the country. The Prairie Style—inspired by the low, flat lines of the prairie landscape—was invented right here in Frank Lloyd Wright's studio, which operated out the home he built for himself in 1889 at the age of 22.
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Honorable Mention: You've always wanted to live in the Home Alone house, haven't you? The stately McCallister home, which sits in the Chicago suburbs, sold for $1.5 million in 2012.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Constructed in 1804, Grouseland was the residence of William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States, during his time as Governor of the Indiana Territory. It's fitting that the home would be in Vincennes, which at the time was the territory's capital. The design of what would become Indiana's first brick building was based on Berkeley Plantation, the Harrison family's Virginia home.
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Honorable Mention: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's Century of Progress Homes, a fascinating collection of model homes constructed in a range of "modern" architectural styles for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Any road trip through Eldon, Iowa must include a stop (and a photo op) in front of the home depicted in Grant Wood's notorious painting American Gothic. Forgot your pitchfork? No worries—the adjacent American Gothic House Center has props on-hand.
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Honorable Mention: The 1847 farmhouse known as the Buffalo Bill Cody Homestead, where the Wild West showman spent his childhood.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The famous female aviator spent more time living in this wood-frame, Gothic Revival cottage in Atchison than anywhere else during the course of her lifetime—and she was certainly someone who knew how to get around.
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Honorable Mention: The home in which President Eisenhower was raised is now a museum on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Center.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
"I am in one respect better off than Moses. He died in sight of, without reaching, the Promised Land. I occupy as good a farm as any that he would have found, if he had reached it." So said statesman Henry Clay of the Lexington estate on which he lived for over 40 years. You, too, can visit the promised land by embarking on a guided tour of the house or by visiting the grounds, which are open free-of-charge, year-round.
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Honorable Mention: Visit the girlhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of history's most noteworthy first ladies, in Lexington.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Vacherie's Oak Alley Plantation is perhaps best known for the quarter-mile alley of 300-year old, live oak trees that beckon guests to this "Grand Dame of River Road." If the Greek Revival plantation house looks familiar, you might remember it as one of the settings in Interview with the Vampire, among a handful of other Hollywood films.
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Honorable Mention: The Steel Magnolia House, famous for the on-site filming of the 1989 film Steel Magnolias.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Andrew Wyeth's 1948 painting Christina's World is not the only one of his artworks to feature Olsen House, but it is certainly the most famous. Wyeth used the Cushing farmstead and its owners as his muse for nearly 300 paintings and sketches composed in the years between 1940 and 1968. The home is now owned and operated by the Farnsworth Art Museum and is open to the public.
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Honorable Mention: See how high society lived during the pre-Civil War years at Victoria Mansion, an Italian villa style masterpiece in Portland.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
It might appear unassuming from the outside, but this little Baltimore house played a big role in American history as the home and workplace of Mary Pickersgill, who sewed the flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying over Fort McHenry, inspiring him to write our country's national anthem.
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Honorable Mention: Sotterly, a beautiful example of a historic tidewater plantation and the only one in the state that is open to the public.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
It happens to be one of the country's oldest surviving homes (it dates to 1668!), but Salem's House of the Seven Gables truly earned its place in history when Nathaniel Hawthorne penned his famous novel inspired by the historic setting. As for the gables? Count 'em—there are indeed seven!
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Honorable Mention: The Mount, Edith Wharton's 1902 country home, is a living example of the principles espoused in her 1897 book The Decoration of Houses.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The enormous popularity of the Model T after its introduction in 1908 not only set Henry Ford on a path to becoming one of the America's richest men—it also made him of its most recognizable figures. Ford and his wife Clara, who were living in a farmhouse at the time, sought a country escape far away from the public eye but close to their rural roots. Set on 1,300 acres, this Dearborn house would become the Fords' home from 1915 until 1950.
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Honorable Mention: Alden B. Dow Home & Studio, the spectacular residence of the 20th century architect known for his influence in developing the Michigan Modern style.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Clara Congdon is known to have joked about her "quiet neighbors"—the majestic 39-room mansion she called home not only overlooked Lake Superior, it was also built next to a cemetery. The Duluth house would have been most famous for its 27,000 sq. ft. of turn-of-the-century decadence, if not for the double murder of heiress Elisabeth Manning Congdon and her night nurse that took place inside the house in 1977. Two years later, Glensheen was donated to the University of Minnesota and opened as a historic house museum.
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Honorable Mention: Measuring 36,500 sq. ft., the 1891 James J. Hill House in St. Paul was at the time of its completion the largest and most expensive home ever to be built in Minnesota.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Tourists in Natchez, Mississippi flock to Longwood Plantation, America's largest octagonal house and arguably its most flamboyant. Historians derisively refer to the home as "Nutt's Folly" because the opulent estate was the dream of Haller Nutt, a cotton baron who lost his fortune in the war, then died of pneumonia before the home could be completed (the rest of the family lived in the finished basement in the post-war years).
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Honorable Mention: A stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail, the Elvis Presley Birthplace is a two-room, shotgun home built by the King's father in 1934 for a modest $180.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
In 1882, the Kansas City Times called the Vaile Mansion "the most princely house and the most comfortable home in the entire west." Little has changed since then; standing proudly on a spacious open lot, Colonel Harvey Vaile's masterpiece remains the crown jewel of Independence, and is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Second Empire architecture in the country.
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Honorable Mention: The Harry S. Truman House, home to the 33rd president from the time of his marriage to the time of his death.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The architect of the original Waldorf=Astoria and the Plaza Hotel built this rusticated stone showpiece in 1903 for wealthy business tycoon Preston Boyd Moss. No stranger to the silver screen, the Billings mansion has been featured in a handful of period films, including Son of the Morning Star and Return to Lonesome Dove.
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Honorable Mention: Charles Marion Russell's Studio in Great Falls, where the artist created many of his iconic paintings of the American West.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Col. Wm. F. Cody (a.k.a. Buffalo Bill) debuted his famous Wild West Show in North Platte on July 4th, 1882—and four years later, used his earnings to construct this sweet Victorian home on a portion of the 4,000 acres he owned there. Now part of a 16-acre historical park, the home is available for tours by appointment.
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Honorable Mention: The Harvey P. Sutton House, a private residence in the city of McCook, was Frank Lloyd Wright's only Nebraska commission.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
It is rumored that Johnny Depp saw the apparition of a little girl dressed in white while staying at the Mackay Mansion during the filming of 1995's Dead Man. He's not alone; years of reported paranormal activity make the circa 1860, Italianate-style home one of Virginia City's most haunted places. Care to see for yourself? The home is open for tours daily.
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Honorable Mention: The Sears-Ferris House in Carson City, the boyhood home of George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., inventor of the Ferris wheel.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Robert Frost's poems are said to epitomize life in New England; the poet himself has attributed many of them to memories of the years between 1900 and 1911, when he lived on this Derry farm.Find more information here.
Honorable Mention: Visit Portsmouth's Richard Jackson House, the oldest surviving wood-frame house in the state.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Say it five times fast! The tongue-twisting name of the New Jersey governor's official residence derives from the Scots-Gaelic term for "wooded hill." Located in Princeton, the Greek Revival mansion was built for governor Charles S. Olden in 1834. It's a showy place, indeed, but despite all the bells and whistles, no governor has actually lived in the home since 2004.
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Honorable Mention: The private residence at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton, where Albert Einstein lived for 20 years.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Many of Georgia O'Keeffe's most famous paintings were inspired by the time spent at her adobe home and studio in Abiquiu, where she lived a notoriously peaceful and simple life. Today, the space appears much as it did in 1984, when the artist moved to Santa Fe. It is now under the management of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.
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Honorable Mention: Taos Pueblo, a collection of multi-level adobe buildings that have been continuously inhabited for the last 1,000 years.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The spirit of Long Island's storied Gold Coast is alive and kicking at Huntington's Oheka Castle, perhaps the best-preserved of the opulent estates that put the region on the map. It was, and still is, the second-largest private residence ever built in America, and it's made cameos in a number of Hollywood films, including the classic Citizen Kane. The home is also believed to have served as partial inspiration for Gatsby's estate in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It's now a popular venue for weddings.
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Honorable Mention: Sagamore Hill, also known as "The Summer White House," was the shingle-style home of Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
George Vanderbilt's 250-room, Chateau-style estate in Asheville is the largest private residence ever to be built in America. And we're taking massive—as in 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, a bowling alley and a 10,000-volume library, all spread out on over 4 acres of floor space. You'd need a lot of heat to keep that much stone warm on a breezy night; but fortunately, there are 65 fireplaces, too.
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Honorable Mention: K?rner's Folly might not be North Carolina's most famous house, but the former home of designer Jule Gilmer K?rner is undoubtedly its most eccentric.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Theodore Roosevelt is known to have said, "I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota." For several years in the 1880s, Roosevelt split his time between New York and this one-and-a-half story cabin on Chimney Butte Ranch in Medora, where he embarked on wilderness activities that no doubt inspired the strong conservation ethic that he would carry into his presidency.
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Honorable Mention: Bagg Farm, North Dakota's only restored bonanza farm.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
It's easy to pick this house out of the scores of other early-twentieth century, modest townhouses lining the streets of Cleveland—just look for the leg lamp lighting up the downstairs window. Ralphie's home from A Christmas Story was purchased on eBay by a lifelong lover of the film, who has since restored it to its movie-like appearance, maintaining it today as a museum.
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Honorable Mention: Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, one of Ohio's largest homes, built by Frank "F.A." Seiberling of the The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Once called "The White House on the Verdigris," the 1875 Oologah home in which the famous showman was born is a relatively rare surviving example of early frontier architecture in the region.
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Honorable Mention: You can't see it from the road, but if you listen closely, you might be able to hear clucking from behind the trees. The privately-owned home known as the Prairie Chicken House made international waves in the architecture world after its completion in 1961.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Oregon Trail pioneers Georgiana and Henry Pittock lived in Portland's most palatial estate for only a short time, beginning in 1914 (they died in 1918 and 1919, respectively), but the couple was hugely influential in the development of the city in the years prior. Most notably, Henry served for several years as publisher of the Portland Oregonian.
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Honorable Mention: The Watzek House, a 1935 Modernist home that is stylistically years ahead of its time.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Frank Lloyd Wright—arguably America's most famous 20th century architect—described his architectural style as "organic." Nowhere is this more apparent than at Fallingwater, the architect's most well-known work that he designed as a weekend retreat for the wealthy Kaufmann family, of department store fame. Cantilevering over a waterfall, the home seems in total harmony with its picturesque western Pennsylvania surroundings.
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Honorable Mention: The Cairnwood Estate, the first large-scale country house commission of Thomas Hastings, who went on to become one of the preeminent architects of the Gilded Age.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Cornelius Vanderbilt II's spectacular summer home is one of many opulent mansions to be seen along Cliff Walk (Newport's Gold Coast), but the Italian Renaissance-style masterpiece is certainly the grandest of the bunch.
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Honorable Mention: Nearby, the Isaac Bell House represents one of the country's best surviving examples of shingle-style architecture.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Tidalholm is the official name of the stately, Lowcountry private home that served as the primary setting for the '80s classic, The Big Chill. Like many other homes in Beaufort, this one is an architectural beauty, and features some pretty spectacular interior plasterwork.
Honorable Mention: Drayton Hall, a picturesque Georgian Palladian plantation house situated on the banks of the Ashley River.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
De Smet bills itself as "The Little Town on the Prairie," and with good reason—Laura Ingalls Wilder reminisced about childhood memories spent here in some of her most famous works. The Surveyor's House was the first home her family lived in in De Smet in 1879, and it was quite large by Laura's standards. "Laura thought that there must have been a great many surveyors to need so much space. This would be by far the largest house she had ever lived in," she wrote in her autobiographical novel By the Shores of Silver Lake.
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Honorable Mention: The imposing Victorian Pettigrew Home, home of Senator Richard Franklin Pettigrew, who aided in the founding of many communities around Sioux Falls.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Over 600,000 visitors walk through the famous gates each year to visit Graceland, the former cattle farm that would be become the iconic estate of Elvis Presley after he purchased it in 1957 (the actual house was built 19 years prior). While Elvis' taste has been dismissed by many as garish (we're looking at you, Jungle Room), there's a certain charm to the decor inside the Memphis home, which is without a doubt as colorful as the music legend himself.
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Honorable Mention: The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's stunning Greek Revival estate and farm is a must-see for any American history buff.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
There's a fireplace inside the Bishop's Palace that is lined in pure silver, but that's hardly surprising given the wealth of opulence found in and around Galveston's best-known building. Built for attorney Walter Gresham by Galveston's preeminent architect Nicholas Clayton, the home withstood the Great Storm of 1900 virtually unscathed. Nonetheless, it is said that Gresham's ghost returns to inspect the building whenever a storm is brewing.
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Honorable Mention: The Huntsville home of Sam Houston, the first elected president of the Republic of Texas, and the city of Houston's namesake.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Named for the beehive-shaped sculpture perched on top of the house, this was Mormon leader Brigham Young's official residence in Salt Lake City while he served as governor of Utah. A polygamist, Young and his growing family (which included 57 biological children) eventually outgrew the house and expanded into a second home next door.
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Honorable Mention: The childhood home of legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy (née Robert LeRoy Parker), whose parents were some of the state's first Mormon settlers.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Only one of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln's four sons survived into adulthood; after acquiring a fortune as chairman of one of America's largest manufacturing corporations, Robert Todd Lincoln built this Georgian Revival-style mansion atop a hill in the village of Manchester (a far-cry from the humble cabin in which his father was born). Descendants of the Lincoln family continued to live there until 1975.
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Honorable Mention: The Ethan Allen Homestead, the charming 1787 center-chimney Cape that Vermont's founder once called home.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Undoubtedly one of the most iconic homes in America is George and Martha Washington's Mount Vernon, which also—having been saved from disrepair in the 1950s—is often credited with beginning the historic preservation movement in the United States. Mount Vernon began as a small farmhouse built by George's father, which Washington expanded over the years to become the resplendent home we see today. The appearance of stone on the exterior is actually a trick—as stone was a pricier building option, Washington rusticated the wooden facade, mimicking the look of a more expensive home.
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Honorable Mention: Perhaps equally famous is Thomas Jefferson's celebrated plantation house, Monticello.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Our vote for Washington state goes to Manresa Castle, which has loomed over Port Townsend since 1892, when it was built as a private residence for Charles Eisenbeis (the city's first mayor).
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Honorable Mention: The Practical Magic house was just a movie set, the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat isn't old enough to qualify as "historic," and this Mount Vernon doppelganger is just a copy. So our pick for runner-up is the Ann Starrett Mansion, Port Townsend's legendary pink palace.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
The Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-winning author of The Good Earth was born right here in Hillsboro in 1892, while her parents were on leave from missionary work in China.
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Honorable Mention: Every October, residents of Kenova and the surrounding cities flock to 748 Beech Street to see one of West Virginia's most anticipated Halloween attractions—the 1891 Queen Anne-style home that has come to affectionately be known as the "Pumpkin House."
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Who knew that Pabst Blue Ribbon had such fancy roots? Milwaukee's most famous beer baron built this impressive home for his family in 1890. It was nearly bulldozed in 1975, when plans surfaced to build a parking lot in its place. After public outcry, the Gilded Age mansion was spared and is today one of the state's most successful house museums.
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Honorable Mention: Black Point Estate, the summer home of another famous beer tycoon, Conrad Seipp, is one of America's finest examples of Queen Anne architecture.
The 50 Most Famous Historic Houses In Every State
Cattle baron John Benjamin Kendrick didn't get to spend much time in the 13,748 sq. ft. Flemish Revival-style mansion he built for his family in Sheridan; he became governor one year after its 1913 completion, and so the "Castle on the Hill" became the family's summer home. Still, anyone interested in seeing how a wealthy Wyoming family would have lived back in the day will enjoy touring the home's lavish interior, which has changed little over the course of a century.
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Honorable Mention: Just down the street from the birthplace of James Cash Penney is the first J.C. Penney store, in downtown Kemmerer.
Take a virtual road trip around the country through the lens of America's most historic and storied homes.