Throughout the nation, historic homes are timeless snapshots of the past. Visitors far and wide can typically participate in historic home tours of these distinctive structures, which are often of historic and local significance to the surrounding communities.
We’ve compiled a list of famous historic homes in each state, complete with photos. The following landmark homes illustrate the craftsmanship and heritage that inspire contemporary architects and strengthen our connection to the past.
Many of these historic properties are the oldest homes in America that still stand today. Great care and dedication from community members keep their structures—and the memories within—alive.
Alabama: Belle Mont Mansion
Dr. Alexander Mitchell’s stately Belle Mont mansion, originally built around 1828 by an unknown architect, remains one of the few Jeffersonian-Palladian-style houses in the South. Worth more than $1.5 million in the 1850s by today’s standards, Belle Mont was donated to the state in 1983 for restoration. Tour the estate in person to explore the U-shaped floor plan and historic grounds.
Alaska: Oscar Anderson House
In 1915, Swedish immigrant Oscar Anderson paid $25 for the lot and, with the help of two friends, built a one-and-a-half-story frame bungalow-style home for his family. The only House Museum located in Anchorage, the Oscar Anderson House was restored and relocated to what’s now known as Bootleggers Cove. Measuring a humble 20 feet by 40 feet, this historic home is said to have 14 layers of wallpaper, a mark of small luxury in the early 1900s.
Arizona: Taliesin West
More than 110,000 people visit Taliesin West in person every year, but you can now virtually tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s visionary home. In 1937, the legendary architect purchased 800 acres—at $3.50 an acre—and began construction on his ever-evolving winter home the following year. Officially designated a World Heritage site and National Historic Landmark, Taliesin West draws inspiration from the surrounding Scottsdale landscape at the base of the McDowell Mountains.
Arkansas: Jacob Wolfe Historic Site
Constructed by Jacob Wolf in 1829, the Wolf House is the last remaining dog-trot structure in the country. The two-story building was raised for civic purposes rather than domestic ones, and it became the first permanent courthouse for the surrounding Izard County. The National Park Service-National Trails Office has since designated the Wolf House an official Trail of Tears Interpretive Center as a “witness site.”
California: Winchester Mystery House
Sarah Pardee married William Winchester of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in September 1862 and purchased a two-story farmhouse near San Jose in 1886. Known as Llanada Villa, the home soon became a multi-story mansion, and Pardee reportedly spent $5.5 million on it from 1886–1922. Harry Houdini is credited as the first to call it The Mystery House after visiting it near Halloween in 1924.
Colorado: McAllister House
Hailing from Philadelphia, Major Henry McAllister and his wife, Elizabeth Cooper McAllister, took up residence in what became Colorado Springs, setting down roots in a home built by George Summers in 1873. Constructed in the Gothic Revival and English Cottage architectural style, the McAllister House features three marble fireplaces imported from Philadelphia. Although Major McAllister lived in the home until he died in 1921, the house was purchased some 40 years later by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Colorado and restored in collaboration with the El Pomar Foundation and Shepard’s Citations.
Connecticut: The Mark Twain House
Edward Tuckerman Potter began work on Samuel Clemens’ (better known by his pen name, Mark Twain) 11,500-square-foot family home in 1873. The famous author paid the New York architect $40,000–$45,000 and then contracted Leon Marcotte of New York and Paris and Louis C. Tiffany & Co., Associated Artists, to complete the interior design elements. The Friends of Hartford purchased the home in 1929, but formal restoration work didn’t begin until 1963.
Delaware: Nemours Estate
This 18th-century French-style mansion is made up of 47,000 square feet of luxurious living. It features formal gardens inspired by those at the Palace of Versailles and a chauffeur’s garage built to house rare automobiles. Completed in 18 months between 1909 and 1910, the Nemours Estate is the work of architects Carrère and Hastings and is rumored to have cost Alfred I. du Pont $2 million at the time.
Florida: The Stetson Mansion
Iconic hatmaker John B. Stetson’s estate is the only Gilded Age mansion in the Sunshine State. Blending elements of Moorish, Gothic, cottage, Tudor, and Polynesian architectural styles, the Stetson Mansion was listed for sale in 2018 at $2.55 million. The mansion is outfitted with electricity (installed under Thomas Edison’s supervision), indoor plumbing, and steam heat.
Georgia: The Hay House
The Johnston-Felton-Hay House, or Hay House for short, passed through the hands of these three families before coming under the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Construction on this Italian Renaissance Revival-style house began in 1855 and was finished some five years later for the sum of $100,000. The Hay family lived at the Hay House from 1926–1962. Today, the four-level mansion is constantly undergoing restoration.
Hawaii: Iolani Palace
The Iolani Palace in Hawaii was built in 1882 for King Kalākaua and cost more than $340,000 to complete. The seat of royalty until 1893, the American Florentine-style palace served as the Capital of Hawaii for nearly 80 years. The King’s sister, Queen Liliʻuokalani, also resided in Iolani Palace until the monarchy was overthrown.
Idaho: The Bishops’ House
Built in 1889, The Bishops’ House was named after the series of Episcopal Bishops of Idaho who resided there. The original house was designed by James King but was later renovated in 1899 by John Tourtelotte, who added the Queen Anne design elements. The Bishops’ House was moved from its original site at the corner of 2nd and Idaho Street to Old Penitentiary Road, but the house still retains its original woodwork and hardwood floors.
Illinois: Edith Farnsworth House
Designed as a weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, this historic home was built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe between 1946 and 1951. The architect’s first project in America, modeled after the International Style of architecture, featured steel and glass materials that gave it its iconic form. The Edith Farnsworth House has been open to the public since 2004.
Indiana: Lanier Mansion
The Lanier Mansion, built by Francis Costigan in 1844 for James Franklin Doughty Lanier, features Greek Revival architecture. At the time, the construction cost the banking and railroad magnate $40,000. The mansion was donated to the Jefferson County Historical Society, but as of 1925, the State of Indiana owns the property.
Iowa: American Gothic House
Visit the humble white house in the backdrop behind the well-known couple in the painting “American Gothic” by Grant Wood, otherwise known as the American Gothic House. Featuring the Carpenter Gothic architectural style, this historic home was designed in 1881 and passed through several hands before it became the property of the State Historical Society of Iowa in 1991.
Kansas: Amelia Earhart Birthplace
Amelia Earhart’s childhood home is a Gothic Revival cottage built by her maternal grandfather in 1861. Earhart was born in this wood-frame home in 1897. Thanks to a $100,000 donation from Dr. Eugene J. Bribach, The Ninety-Nines (an International Organization of Women Pilots to which Earhart belonged) was able to purchase and maintain the home for future generations.
Kentucky: Liberty Hall Historic Site
John Brown commissioned an unnamed Philadelphia architect to build Liberty Hall in 1796. Designed in the Georgian style, Liberty Hall stayed within the family for four generations and was joined on the property by a second house, called the Orlando Brown House, in 1835. Margaret Wise Brown, author of “Goodnight Moon,” was a direct descendant of the Browns responsible for this estate, which is purported to be haunted by three ghosts.
Louisiana: Old Governor’s Mansion
The original home—known as the Knox House and purchased by the state for $10,000—that stood on the grounds before what is now the Old Governor’s Mansion was razed by convicts at the command of Huey Long. One of Louisiana’s most controversial governors, Long paid New Orleans architecture firm Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth $150,000 to build a Georgian-style mansion on the site in 1929. Although Governor Jimmie Davis built a new mansion in 1963, the Old Governor’s Mansion has become a historic landmark.
Maine: Wadsworth-Longfellow House
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s grandparents built the Wadsworth-Longfellow House in 1785–1786 after General Peleg Wadsworth hired John Nichols, a local mason. Built in the neoclassical style, the home was the first fully brick dwelling in Portland. Referred to as the “Old Original,” the Wadsworth-Longfellow House became a National Historic Landmark in 1962.
Maryland: Montpelier Mansion
The Montpelier Mansion features 18th-century Georgian architectural styling and was built around 1781 and 1785. Major Thomas Snowden and his wife Anne were its first residents, and the property remained in the Snowden family until 1890. Christine L. Wilcox donated it to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1961, and the property was later opened to the public in 1985.
Massachusetts: Paul Revere House
Originally owned by wealthy merchant Robert Howard, the home that would become the Paul Revere House was built around 1680. Revere purchased the home in 1770 and moved in with his wife and growing family. He owned the home until 1800. It is now a museum on the Freedom Trail in Boston.
Michigan: Ford House
Edsel Ford commissioned Albert Kahn to design and construct what has become simply known as Ford House. Deemed a National Historic Landmark, the Cotswold-style cottage home was completed in 1928 to the tune of $3.2 million.
Minnesota: James J. Hill House
The James J. Hill House is a 36,000-square-foot estate that features 13 bathrooms, 22 fireplaces, and a two-story art gallery. Completed in 1891 by the architectural firm Peabody, Stearns, and Furber, the Richardsonian Romanesque-style Gilded Age mansion cost railroad tycoon James J. Hill $931,275.01. Visited by President McKinley in 1899, the James J. Hill House was acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978.
Mississippi: Beauvoir
James Brown bought the property upon which Beauvoir was constructed, completing the house in 1852. Although he called the property “Orange Grove,” it wasn’t until Sarah Ann Dorsey purchased the home that the estate earned its name, which means “beautiful view.” Beauvoir was devastated by several storms throughout its lifetime but was reopened in mid-2008.
Missouri: Laura Ingalls Wilder Home
“Little House on the Prairie” writer Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on the Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, moving into the existing log cabin on the property in 1894. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home was officially finished in 1913, but it was in the Rock House—built by Rose for parents Laura and Almanzo—that Laura wrote her famed Little House book series.
Montana: Moss Mansion
Architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh built Moss Mansion in 1903 for $105,000. It was home to Preston Boyd Moss and his wife, Martha Ursula Woodson Moss, who was the first woman in Billings, Montana, to drive. The mansion is now known as the Moss Mansion Museum.
Nebraska: General Crook House
The General Crook House was built for Army General George Crook, a veteran of the American Frontier Wars, in 1879. Designed in the early Italianate style, the home cost a reduced sum of $7,716 due to the use of Army troop labor during construction.
Nevada: Bowers Mansion
This Italianate-style mansion, home to Lemuel S. “Sandy” Bowers and his wife, Eilley, cost $400,000 to build at the time. Completed in 1864, the mansion was the product of J. Neeley Johnson and stonecutters from Scotland. The Bowers Mansion appeared in parts of the popular “Bonanza” movie and TV series and is now owned by the Washoe County Parks Department.
New Hampshire: Jackson House
Richard Jackson fashioned this post-medieval English-style home in 1664 from local timber surrounding the build site. It is the oldest surviving house in New Hampshire and Maine. After visiting the home while in college, Historic New England founder William Sumner Appleton acquired the Jackson House in 1924.
New Jersey: Ringwood Manor
Ringwood Manor began as a 10-room Federal-style home built in 1810 by Martin J. Ryerson. In 1853, Peter Cooper purchased the now-19,000-acre property for $100,000. Several additions around the turn of the century incorporated Victorian influences into the manor, which was donated to the state of New Jersey in 1938.
New Mexico: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House
Mabel Dodge purchased 12 acres of land in Taos for $1,500 in 1918 at the urging of her soon-to-be husband, Antonio Lujan. From 1918–1922, he helped build “Los Gallos,” a Pueblo Revival home he had designed. Famous guests of the Mabel Dodge Luhan House included Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, and D.H. Lawrence. It was once owned by Dennis Hopper, who called it the “Mud Palace.”
New York: Lyndhurst
In 1838, William Paulding Jr., mayor of New York City, commissioned Alexander Jackson Davis to design and build “Knoll,” or what became known as Lyndhurst Mansion. Although work on the Gothic Revival mansion was completed in 1842, the second owner, George Merritt, commissioned Davis again to expand the structure twice over in 1864. Since 1965, Lyndhurst Mansion has been a tourable museum and historic site.
North Carolina: Biltmore Estate
According to the most recent appraisal, George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate is worth approximately $300 million. Grandson to Cornelius Vanderbilt, George hired Richard Morris Hunt to design the 175,000-square-foot French Renaissance Revival-style chateau in 1889, and the mansion was completed in 1895.
North Dakota: Chateau de Morès
Chateau de Morès was built in 1883 for $5,000 as a hunting lodge for Antoine de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Morès. In the 1930s, Louis, the Marquis’ son, gifted the two-story building to the North Dakota Historical Society.
Ohio: Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens
F.A. Seiberling, co-founder of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, named his estate Stan Hywet, Old English for “stone quarry.” He purchased the land in 1910 and commissioned Charles S. Schneider to build Stan Hywet in 1912 for $150,000. A Tudor Revival design, the estate has since become the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
Oklahoma: Marland Mansion
E.W. Marland of Marland Oil commissioned John Duncan Forsyth to build Marland Mansion, paying $5.5 million total to construct and furnish his new home. This Italian Renaissance Villa was built in 1928, but Marland was forced to sell it to the Carmelite Fathers in 1941 for $66,000. The City of Ponca City later purchased the estate for $1.4 million.
Oregon: Pittock Mansion
Henry and Georgiana Pittock only enjoyed their French Renaissance-style chateau for the last four years of their lives. Today, Pittock Mansion is a historic house museum open to the public since 1965. Henry hired Edward T. Foulkes to design the home, and construction began in 1912, finishing two years later. In 1964, the citizens of Portland purchased the mansion for $225,000 to preserve it. It is now owned and operated by the Pittock Mansion Society.
Pennsylvania: Pennsbury Manor
Between 1937 and 1939, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission reconstructed what stands today as the Pennsbury Manor, with inspiration from Richard Brognard Okie and his studies of William Penn. Construction on the original Penn estate began in 1682, but the property fell into disrepair before it was purchased by Robert Crozier in 1803. Crozier built a new home on the site where the Manor House stood, but it was moved in the 1930s to make way for an archaeological dig on the site.
Rhode Island: The Breakers
The Breakers cost Cornelius Vanderbilt II $7 million in 1893, which equates to $263 million by today’s standards. Representative of a Gilded Age mansion, The Breakers was designed in the Italian Renaissance style by Richard Morris Hunt and built between 1893 and 1895. The last owner, Countess Széchenyi (Vanderbilt’s daughter), allowed the Preservation Society of Newport County to offer public tours for some time. The Society purchased the estate in 1972.
South Carolina: Williams Mansion
After purchasing four lots on Meeting Street in 1863 for $40,010, George Walton Williams hired W.P. Russell & Co. in 1875 to construct the Williams Mansion. Built in the Italianate Revival style, the mansion was completed in 1878. When Williams died in 1903, the property changed hands multiple times until Howard Stahl bought it in 2004.
South Dakota: Historic Adams House
The Historic Adams House was built in 1892 under the supervision of general contractors Tuplin and Johnson at an estimated cost between $8,000 and $10,000. This Queen Anne-style home was first occupied by Harris and Anna Franklin and acquired by W.E. Adams in 1920. The Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission took ownership of the Historic Adams House in 1992 and restored it to a house museum that opened to the public in 2000.
Tennessee: Graceland
In 1957, Elvis Presley purchased the grounds and existing mansion that would become his Graceland home for $102,500. Originally part of a farm owned by the S.C. Toof family, the Colonial Revival-style mansion underwent significant renovations in 1981, overseen by Jack Soden. Graceland was deemed a National Historic Landmark in 2006, and recent evaluations estimate it to be worth between $400 and $500 million.
Texas: Fulton Mansion
The Fulton Mansion, otherwise known as Oakhurst, was built between 1847 and 1877. A collaborative effort between George Purves and George W. Fulton, the French Second Empire-style mansion was the Fulton’s home for 18 years until it was sold in 1907. The Fulton Mansion opened as a historic house museum in 1983. After Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, it sustained almost $1 million in damages.
Utah: Beehive House
Built in the Greek Revival style, the Beehive House takes its name from the beehive-shaped sculpture atop the mansion. This iconic house was constructed in 1854 under the supervision of Truman Angell and occupied by Brigham Young—the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—and his family.
Vermont: Hildene
As the only surviving child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Lincoln—along with his wife, Mary—built Hildene in the early 1900s. The result of pairing two Old English words, “hil” (hill) and “dene” (valley with a stream), Hildene was a summer home for the couple and their children built in the Georgian Revival style. The Friends of Hildene purchased the property in 1978 and began to restore it.
Virginia: Mount Vernon
Part of George Washington’s British-Palladian-style mansion—built in 1734 — sold for $50 million in October 2021. Although the original designer of the house remains unknown, George Washington’s half-brother Lawrence renamed the estate Mount Vernon to honor his commander, Admiral Edward Vernon. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association purchased the Washington family mansion for $200,000 in 1858.
Washington: Stimson Green Mansion
Completed in 1901, the Stimson-Green Mansion belonged first to C.D. and Harriet Stimson, who tasked Kirtland Cutter with designing and constructing the English Tudor Revival-style home in 1901 for $16,000. Some 14 years later, Joshua and Laura Green purchased the house. Priscilla Bullitt Collins, a descendent of the Stimsons, bought the mansion in 1986 for $1.3 million, spending another $800,000 on the property to restore it.
West Virginia: Adaland Mansion
Augustus Modisett enlisted carpenter foreman James Daver Corder to construct Adaland Mansion between 1868 and 1872. After acquiring the property, Judge Ira E. Robinson named the mansion for his wife and daughter, who shared the name Ada. This Greek Revival-style mansion was donated to the City of Philippi in 1996 and opened for public tours in 1999.
Wisconsin: Pabst Mansion
George Bowman Ferry and Alfred Charles Clas designed the Pabst Mansion for Captain Frederick and Maria Pabst for the price of $254,000. Construction on the Flemish Renaissance Revival-style mansion began in 1892 and lasted for two years. The Pabst’s descendants sold the home in 1908. It was nearly torn down to create a parking lot before it was saved and opened to the public as a museum some 70 years later.
Wyoming: Historic Governors’ Mansion
Wyoming constructed the Governor’s Mansion as an executive residence in 1904 for the sum of $33,253.29, including the land, furnishings, and landscaping. First occupied by Governor B.B. Brooks in January of 1905, the Colonial Revival home was designed by Charles Murdock. Once home to Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross—Wyoming’s first female governor—the Governor’s Mansion opened to the public in 1977.
Our Conclusion
Historic homes can be found in each state, including many other famous and remarkable properties that don’t appear on our list. Explore historic homes in your area to discover how you can contribute to preserving their legacy. If you decide to take on a move to a historic property, the best moving companies for antiques can help ensure any heirloom items you’re transporting to your abode are safely handled.