Historic House Museums in North Carolina

We try to keep this list of historic house museums for North Carolina current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information. If you know of a historic house museum in North Carolina that should be listed here, please use our submission form to let us know about it.

Asheville

Biltmore Estate

A working estate that would sustain itself and benefit the community. America's largest home. Acres of gardens, parklands, and managed forests. A country retreat for friends and family. This was George Vanderbilt's vision for Biltmore Estate more than 100 years ago, and it lives to this day.

Call or see their web site for hours and directions • (800) 624-1575

The Smith-McDowell House Museum

Built by one of antebellum North Carolina's most influential citizens, this National Register property was once the home of mayors, a Confederate Major, and friends of the Vanderbilts at nearby Biltmore Estate. In addition to restored period rooms spanning 1840 through 1900, the Museum also features special history exhibits in its Gallery Rooms.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4 • 283 Victoria Road • (828) 253-9231

The Thomas Wolfe Memorial

The sprawling frame of the Queen Anne-influenced house was originally only six or seven rooms with a front and rear porch when it was constructed in 1883 by prosperous Asheville banker, Erwin E. Sluder. By 1889, massive additions had more than doubled the original structure, but the architecture changed little over the next 27 years.

See their web site for hours • 52 N. Market St. • (828) 253-8304

Burlington

Alamance County Historical Museum

An original antebellum/Victorian working farm,owned by textile pioneer E. M. Holt, this lovely house museum interprets the rise of the textile industry in Alamance County/Piedmont NCand also of 19th century farm life through its authenic collection of Victorian furnishings, accessories, and restored summer kitchen and outbuildings of Oak Grove Plantation.

Tues.-Fri. 10:00-4:00 ; 10:30-4:00 Sat; 1:00-4:00 Sun. • 4777 South NC 62 • (336) 226-8254

Charlotte

Hezekiah Alexander Historic Homesite

The house on the grounds of the Charlotte Museum of History is the Revolutionary Era home of Hezekiah Alexander. Built in 1774, it is the oldest surviving structure in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Open Tue-Sun at 1:15 & 3:15 • 3500 Shamrock Drive • (704) 568-1774

Historic Rosedale Plantation

Originally part of a 911 acre plantation, Rosedale was built in 1815 by Archibald Frew, who was a merchant, postmaster and tax collector.Ý

Open Thu-Sun 1-3 • 3427 N. Tryon Street • (704) 335-0325

Durham

Bennett Place

This simple farmhouse was situated between Confederate General Johnston's headquarters in Greensboro and Union General Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1865 the two soldiers met at the Bennett Place, where they signed surrender papers for Southern armies in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Today James Bennett's reconstructed farmhouse, kitchen, and smokehouse give visitors a glimpse into the life-style of an ordinary Southern farmer during the Civil War years.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4 • 4409 Bennett Memorial Rd. • (919) 383-4345

Duke Homestead

See the early home, factories, and farm where Washington Duke first grew and processed tobacco. Duke's sons later founded The American Tobacco Company, the largest tobacco company in the world. The tour includes Duke's restored home, an early factory, a curing barn, and a packhouse. The Tobacco Museum exhibits trace the history of tobacco from Native American times to the present.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4 • 2828 Duke Homestead Road • (919) 477-5498

Edenton

The Barker House

The Barker House, was built in 1782 as the residence of Thomas & Penelope Barker. Penelope Barker was a principle figure in the famous Edenton Tea Party which occurred on October 25, 1774.

Open Mon-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4 • 505 S. Broad St. • (252) 482-7800

Flat Rock

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

Carl Sandburg, nationally renowned poet, biographer, lecturer, newspaper columnist, folksinger, author of American fairytales, and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, provided broad and enduring 20th century insight into the circumstances, worth and spirit of the American people. This farm offered the peace and solitude required for his writing.

Open daily 9-5 • 81 Carl Sandburg Lane • (828) 693-4178

Greensboro

Blandwood

Blandwood is the restored home of Governor John Motley Morehead and a National Historic Landmark. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis and built in 1846, it is America's oldest Italianate villa.

Open Tue-Sat 11-2, Sun 2-5, Feb-Dec • Blandwood Avenue • (336) 272-5003

Huntersville

Historic Latta Plantation

In 1799, James Latta purchased Moses Hayes' 100 acres containing a log cabin. In 1800, he built the Federal style home that is now known as Latta Plantation. Latta made additional purchases of adjoining lands in 1800, 1813, 1816, and 1817, eventually owning more than 700 acres, much of which was planted in cotton.

Open Tue-Sat 10-4:30, Sun 1-4:30 • 5225 Sample Road • (704) 875-2312

Kernersville

Körner's Folly

The eccentric structure offers 22 rooms spread out over three floors and seven levels, with ceiling heights ranging from six feet to 25 feet. It was a work-in-progress from the beginning: when Jule married Polly Alice Masten in 1886, portions were enclosed and the stables moved across the street; a top-level room was significantly converted in 1897; K–rner died in 1924, feeling that the "work" was still incomplete.

Open Thu-Sat 10-3, Sun 1-5 • 413 South Main Street • (336) 996-7922

Raleigh

Pope House Museum

Built in 1901 by Dr. M.T. Pope, an important African American citizen of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Pope House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Not currently open • 511 S. Wilmington St. • (919) 833-4633

Salisbury

Dr. Josephus Hall House

Successful medical doctor and businessman, Josephus Hall purchased the house in 1859 and began work to make it the showplace it is today. This house remained a home to three generations of the Hall family.

Open Sat-Sun 1-4 • 226 South Jackson Street • (704) 636-0103

Wilmington

Latimer House Museum

The Latimer House, built in 1852 by local merchant Zebulon Latimer, has housed the Historical Society since 1963 and is currently open to the public as a house museum exemplary of upper-class life in Wilmington during the Victorian period.

Open Mon-Fri 10-4, Sat 12-5 • 126 South Third Street • (910) 762-0492

Windsor

Historic Hope Plantation

The restored home of former North Carolina Governor David Stone (1770-1818). Located four miles west of Windsor, NC, the plantation complex offers unique insights into the late 18th- and 19th-century rural life in eastern North Carolina and the South.

Open Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 1-5 Apr-Oct • 132 Hope House Road • (252) 794-3140

Winston-Salem

Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Discover Reynolda House, a National Historic Property and the centerpiece of the Reynolda Mile cultural corridor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Explore the restored 1917 mansion of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds showcasing treasures of American art in both the historic house and new exhibition wing. Stroll landscaped grounds, formal and informal gardens, and wooded walking trails.

Open Tue-Sat 9:30-4:30, SUN 1:30-4:30 • 2250 Reynolda Road • (336) 758-5150