We try to keep this list of historic house museums for Delaware 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 not in our list, please submit it.

If you are the director of a museum in our listings and you would like to claim your listing so you are able to maintain your listing yourself, please email us at info@vpa.org and we will set you up.

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Amstel House

    Among New Castle’s few surviving early colonial buildings is the elegant brick, early Georgian mansion, the Amstel House. Built in the 1730s by the town’s wealthiest landowner, Dr. John Finney, the house is graced with original woodwork, fine architectural details and open hearth. Its early fanlight and central hallway were among the first uses of these features in the… Read More

    Dutch House

      Facing the Green, the diminutive Dutch House traces its origins to the late 17th century when New Castle was the bustling port for Dutch, English, Swedish, and Finnish settlers and traders. Read More

      Gov. Ross House

        The Seaford Historical Society has fully restored this rare brick home. The Italian-Villa style Victorian features a three-story tall entry, ornate plaster ceilings, Moroccan ventilation, beautiful furnishings and even a hidden safe. Once the home of Governor Ross, the mansion is a testament to Southern living. Read More

        Hale-Byrnes House

          The Historic Hale-Byrnes House was the site of a Council of War on September 6, 1777, five days before the Battle of the Brandywine. The house was built during the eighteenth century. The oldest section dates back to c.1750; the service wing was built in 1773. Read More

          Historic Odessa

            Welcome to the tranquil village of Odessa, in colonial times, a busy grain shipping port known as Cantwell's Bridge. The Corbit-Sharp House, furnished for the late 18th century period, is a historic house museum that is owned and operated by the Foundation. Other properties managed by the organization include the 1769 Wilson-Warner House, 1700 Collins-Sharp House, 1822 Cantwell's Tavern,… Read More

            John Dikinson Plantation

              The Dickinson Mansion, which opened to the public in 1956, has stood for over 250 years, welcomed over 100,000 visitors, and echoed with interpretation of Delaware's history and John Dickinson for 37 years. Read More

              Maull House

                The Thomas Maull House is one of the oldest houses in Lewes. It was built around 1739. In the foundation can be seen ballast stones brought to this new country in the hold of ships. Samuel Paynter, a carpenter, built the house and in 1741 sold it to Luke Shields, Sr., a Delaware Bay and River Pilot. Read More

                Nemours Estate

                  Alfred duPont married Alicia, his second wife, in 1907 and loved showering her with gifts. By far the grandest of these was the spectacular new house that he built for her on a 3,000-acre plot of land in Wilmington. He hired Carrere and Hastings, a prestigious New York architectural firm, to design the mansion in the late-18th-century French style… Read More

                  Old Swedes Church & Hendrickson House Museum

                    Built in 1690 by Andrew Hendrickson, a Swedish farmer who had settled near Chester, Pennsylvania. The house was moved to this site in 1958 and restored. Read More

                    Parson Thorne Mansion

                      This historic building lies within a 1,750 acre Duke of York land patent called Saw Mill Range granted to Henry Bowman in 1680. The first known resident of this portion of the tract was Joseph Booth, who purchased 510 acres from the Bowman family in 1730. The center brick section of the present structure was built by John Cullen… Read More

                      Read House & Gardens

                        Located in the heart of Delaware's Colonial Capital on the Delaware River, three miles south of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Read House and New Castle offer a walk through the past. Built in 1801 by the son of one of Delaware's signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Read House exhibits the height of Federal grandeur. This 22… Read More

                        Rockwood

                          Rockwood is a 150 year old estate that is now a public park featuring a six acre historic garden and a mansion with a museum. Joseph Shipley, a Quaker merchant banker, built Rockwood between 1851 and 1854 to reflect the beauty of an English county estate. The mansion is a wonderful example of Rural Gothic architecture. In the museum,… Read More

                          Winterthur

                            Founded by Henry Francis du Pont, Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, reflecting both early America and the du Pont family’s life here. Its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among the country’s best, and its research library serves scholars from around the world. We invite you to visit and explore this place of beauty, history,… Read More