Residents of Washington, DC are spoiled by easy access to free museums.
Here’s a reason to expand your horizons and travel to Richmond, Virginia.
On September 13th and 14th, 2014, ten historic home museums in Richmond are putting out the welcome mat and offering free admission.
Free Admission to Richmond’s Historic Home Museums — No Strings Attached
Ten of Richmond’s historic homes and museums will offer visitors a passport to time-travel during a special admission-free weekend on Saturday and Sunday, September 13 and 14, 2014.
Ten participating sites will offer complimentary admission to visitors who show a Time Travelers Passport available for free online.
The ten museums are:
- Agecroft Hall
- Dabbs House Museum
- The John Marshall House
- Magnolia Grange
- Maymont
- Meadow Farm Museum
- Poe Museum
- White House of the Confederacy
- Wickham House
- Wilton House Museum
If you manage to max out this offer, it equates to savings of more than $55 per person. Here’s the link for more information.
Some of the highlights include:
Agecroft Hall was first built in England in the 1500s, then transported across the ocean and rebuilt in Richmond in the 1920s. The Tudor mansion is furnished with art and artifacts from 17th century England and there are manicured gardens overlooking the James River.
The John Marshall House, built in 1790 in the fashionable Court End neighborhood of Richmond, was the home of the Chief Justice for forty-five years. Listed on the National and Virginia historic registers, the John Marshall House has undergone remarkably few changes in the last 200 years.
The Poe Museum holds the world’s largest collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s manuscripts, letters, memorabilia and personal belongings. The Poe Museum provides a peek into early nineteenth century Richmond where the author of The Raven lived and worked. One of the structures in the museum’s four-building complex is the 1754 Old Stone House, the oldest residential structure within city limits.
Maymont, a 100-acre estate, was the home of businessman James Dooley and his wife Sallie from 1893 through the 1920s. The Maymont Mansion with 21 restored rooms offers a complete depiction of upstairs-downstairs life in the Gilded Age. The upstairs interiors are adorned with Tiffany stained glass, and frescoed ceilings and filled with original furnishings and artwork. Downstairs service rooms tell the story of household tasks and technology and the challenges of working in domestic service during the Jim Crow era. The surrounding landscape features Italian and Japanese gardens, and a carriage display as well a children’s farm and nature center.
Wilton House Museum overlooks a placid stretch of the James River. It was constructed in the 1750s as the centerpiece of a tobacco plantation by the prominent Randolph Family. An impressive example of 18th-century Georgian Style architecture, Wilton House boasts its original detailed paneling and a collection of fine and decorative arts from the Colonial and early Federal eras.