Historic House Blog

A classified-style listing (for sale by owner) on eBay offers the former home of Governor John J. Crittenden (1787-1863).  Crittenden was not just a prominent figure in Kentucky; he was also a nationally-known politician during the antebellum era.  In addition to being Kentucky’s 17th governor, John Crittenden represented Kentucky in both the U.S. House of [...]

Looking for a one-of-a-kind, super-cool historic property with ties to legendary American history?  This property, sometimes called “The Christian Byers Farm & Civil War Hospital,” is located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania–  the site of the famous “turning point”  battle of the U.S. Civil War.  And as you can tell from the name, the farm actually played [...]

Many-a-time on our road trips between Connecticut and Ohio, we would exit I-80 to stop for gas near a small city named Sharon, just after crossing the border from Ohio into Pennsylvania.   Yet we never really drove into town, feeling we didn’t have time to casually “explore” on such a long trip.  But had I [...]

Historic homes with interesting stories attached to them can elicit excitement & emotional attachment with potential buyers.  Historic homes with stories linking them to Revolutionary War heroes actually get press coverage.  This eight-room, circa 1790  Gambrel style home in Portsmouth, RI, (Aquidneck Island) is reputed to have once been a hiding place for General Lafayette [...]

In Eutaw, Alabama, a magnificent & restored Greek Revival plantation home (circa 1852) is now for sale. The antebellum estate — called “Everhope” — was long known as “Twin Oaks” until the actual twin oaks suffered their demise due to unlucky acts of nature.  The property is also known as the Captain Nathan Carpenter House  [...]

We usually stick to American topics here on HHB–  but, wow, this property “across the pond” really caught my eye. Up for auction on November 23rd in the U.K. is this incredible, post-Tudor, sandstone block property, which is “reputed to be one of the oldest houses in Wirral,” dating to the year 1627.  Yeah . . . that’s [...]

I really like Marshall, Michigan. I’ve only been there once, and that one visit was only a few weeks ago.  However, I am smitten.  I had long been looking forward to visiting Marshall (well, “long” being since March 2009), when I bought an old copy of Mabel Cooper-Skjelver’s Nineteenth Century Homes of Marshall, Michigan (see left).  Flipping through musty pages of old black and [...]

Due to budget cuts, Nicholls State University recently bailed on plans to develop this old plantation house into its culinary center.  Returned to the donating group, the historic Rienzi Plantation in Thibodaux, Louisiana is now being offered for sale.   The Rienzi House is located directly across Bayou Lafourche from the town of Thibodaux and is listed [...]

The New York Times occasionally incudes a real estate feature called, “What Can You Get For . . .?”, in which it profiles sample houses for sale across the nation, and explores how “much” house you can get at a certain price in several different states. This week, they did a piece called ”What Can You Get For $350,000?,” and featured a striking & stately [...]

On the stately, tree-lined Reeves Drive in old Grand Forks, the stories have gathered for more than a century.  The stately homes with sweeping yards that stand guard over the old neighborhood seem to have endless tales to tell. And one of these historic homes can now be yours:  504 Reeves Drive– a restored Queen Anne Victorian [...]