Mark Twain House & Museum

Oh my, where do I start. I walked in knowing very little about Mark Twain but walked away knowing much more and waiting to go home and research more about him. The tour guide seemed to be winging it but when the group had questions he did answer them with factual info (or at least I thought so). Mark Twain’s house is simply exquisite and should be visited at least once if you happen to visit CT! Overall, great tour and great outing for a couple, family or by yourself.

Whether you’re visiting and want to do something different or if you’ve lived here all your life and never have — The Mark Twain House is a fun and cheap way to hang out in CT.
I most recently visited for a live radio-​show performance of «It’s a Wonderful Life». It was a lovable and delightful opportunity to revisit this wonderful story. 90-​minutes of amusing entertainment that always makes me think «I should go see more plays». And, time and time
Throughout the year, I’ve come to learn that The Mark Twain house & museum is great with presenting an array of activities for the young and old. Whether they be ice cream socials, beer fests, or haunted Ghost tours — please don’t ever say «there is nothing to do in CT» because, there are PLENTY of things to do – just look!
Open daily, 9:30am to 5:30pm

I’ve been here twice now. The first time was for their normal house tour, and the second was for their spirits tour. If you have an appreciation for buildings and architecture I would recommend not having the spirit tour be your first go at the place. There is some amazing craftsmanship and history of pieces that aren’t even mentioned, which I would find a little frustrating. Anyhow onto the review:
Museum grounds/​gift shop: Pretty impressive setup, they have a couple of rooms that you can tour that have different memorabilia and facts relating to Sam Clemens (Mark Twain). The library has all of Mark Twain’s books along with T-​shirts, mugs, and other items.
House Tour: Pretty impressive to say the least. You walk in the foyer and you’re greeted by welcoming gas lanterns, high wood coffered ceilings and beautiful wooden trim. The foyer and dining room were hand stenciled by a design firm and the fireplace mantel in the library was retrieved from a castle in Scotland. You then get to go upstairs and touch the immaculate railing of the staircase (only thing you’re allowed to touch on the tour so go nuts), where you get the history of the bedrooms, drawing room, and the bed that Sam purchased for a small fortune in their day. I’ve been on several house tours throughout the country and this one was definitely in the top 3.
Spirits Tour: Here you get to learn about the spirits that are believed to still haunt the house, along with general spiritual beliefs and lore of that era.
Guides: High energy, able to answer your questions, and keep the whole thing moving.
Bottom Line: Highly recommended if in the area be sure to check this place out and frequent the areas in the main building… a lot of good background information on Sam Clemens.

Came here on a groupon. It was a fun and interesting tour of the Mark Twai House!

This was the first thing we did in CT and got off the plane. It is a bit high price in my opinion; $ 19 per person. There has been a ton to restored so I get the price, I guess. There is a film and small display area downstairs. Then upstairs there is more exhibits on his travels. The house is toured with a guide. You get to see the entire house. Including the room where he did most of his work. There are no photography in the home. Justin was our tour guide and happy to answer any questions. As you leave don’t forget to take your photo with the lego Mark Twain. Free parking which is a plus as well. I also loved the quotes in the bricks inside the museum. Happy the house was saved from the wrecking ball.

If you’re in the area and haven’t visited the Mark Twain House, do it! It’s such a fun tour, and the guides are great at what they do. I have done both the «normal» daytime tour and the autumn «Ghost Tour» at night– both were great.
The daytime tour is wonderful because you see all the detail of the beautiful home, and learn really interesting tidbits of information that help you imagine Mark Twain spinning his famous stories from the third floor billiard room, cigar smoke swirling around him.
The Ghost Tour is so much fun, even if you’re not a ghost believer, because you are in a very old house with a lot of history, as it gets darker and darker. The home is very dimly lit, and some rooms are completely dark as you peer into them. The amazing tour guide talks you through the various ghost stories and supernatural rumors having to do with each room and with the former inhabitants of the home. Of course, you also learn some really interesting historical facts!
Definitely make a point to swing by and visit this very cool museum at some point!

This museum is fabulous whether you go for a day tour or one of the Haunted night tours. (Night tours are only available in October.) To see where «Mark Twain» lived when he wrote some of his most famous novels is a treat. The house is restored to the time period he resided there and is wonderful for being a late 19^th century house in and of itself. The «Haunted» tours are also tied into the history of the Clemens family and customs of their time period as well as few spooky stories about experiences in the house. The visitors center houses more items and a cute gift shop with Huckleberry everything! (Tea, candy, soda, etc.) If you come to Hartford this is a highly recommended stop.

I’ve been here for a number of tours and went to an event in the museum this past weekend. The tours are touch-​and-​go: I’ve been on some that were extremely entertaining and/​or educational and others that were little more than the guide glumly walking us through the house, lazily gesturing at important items. I’m not sure how you could make sure to get a good guide, but if you go and have a bad guide, try another day!
I love the museum addition (which is now no longer «new»). There are good exhibits and a really good gift shop. This is a good activity during school vacations and/​or rainy days.

FIVE FIVE FIVE stars here! I NEVER give five stars, so this is a huge deal.
My husband and I were road-​tripping through New England and this was our first stop! We were originally on the fence because we like Mark Twain, but neither of us are huge fans of literature in general and we weren’t sure if we’d truly enjoy this. Boy are we happy we did this! First off, you walk in and there is a life-​size Mark Twain statue. Why wouldn’t you love that? The only part I’m bummed about is next to that statue there is a penny press machine. I collect these awesome tokens of road-​trip-​greatness, so I was so stoked when I saw it. Then… I saw the out of order sign. I wanted to cry. Can one of you Mark Twain House & Museum staffers just send me a pressed penny if/​when it’s working again?
Our tour guide was the gentleman with a Mark-​Twain-​esque mustache (which I’m sure he would be thrilled to hear as our description, since we forget his name). He LOVES his job and you can tell. He had such great information for us and was 100% nerding out during the entire tour.

What an unexpected find in the middle of West End Hartford, on the not so good part of Farmington Ave. The visitor center, and the house itself, are such juxtapositions to the surrounding area.
I was never really aware of The Mark Twain House, until a friend of mine asked me if I had ever been. I had a free weekend, so I decided to check it out. I also got in for free with my work badge – WIN! The one hour tour was very informative. I learned a lot of the history of Sam Clements. The house itself is gorgeous. It’s restored beautifully. They really did maintain the integrity of the house.
I would highly recommend checking out the house and taking the tour. Keep in mind that there are three flights of stairs you have to go up/​down for the tour!

My fascination with Nikola Tesla is what brought me here, since Mark Twain is seen producing electric current in one of his pictures, at Nikola Tesla’s lab.
It was an AMAZING experience, a trip down a historical lane and I got to see all the things inside the house that I never knew existed.

Fantastic tour!!! Our tour guide, Patrick, was very knowledgable about the house as well as Twain’s life history. Answered all of our questions and made the tour very fun. Definitely recommend people to go to this tour if they love learning about historic places.

I visited the Mark Twain House and Museum and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House as part of a group tour from my local library. I am currently re-​reading ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ (it’s their Big Read choice this year) so the trip to Hartford tied in nicely. I’ll admit, if it wasn’t for the bus tour — I probably wouldn’t have made the almost 2 hour trip to the houses and museum but I couldn’t be happier that went! I have been telling friends that couldn’t make the midweek tour that they absolutely must take a day trip to Hartford! It’s most definitely worth the journey.
We were so well looked after — the tour guides were so professional and so knowledgable. We all learned so much. The Mark Twain House is beautiful, the museum really gives an insight into the life of Samuel Clemens, and the gift shops has some really nice pieces. We also had a wonderful lunch.
I definitely recommend the Mark Twain House and Museum. Each member of our group enjoyed the trip!

Had a Living Social Deal. We had been here probably about 15 years ago. There is a new museum. Was not really impressed with it, but the tour of house itself is very enjoyable, our guide was very informative and able to answer all of our questions. it’s an okay museum if you find yourself in Hartford and have even the slightest interest in Mark Twain.

Well, it takes a certain type of person to enjoy the Mark Twain House & Museum $ 16 worth (the price of an adult admission). Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people. I was fortunate that I had purchased a Groupon for 2 for 1 admission, but even at $ 8, I’m not sure I got true value.
As others have mentioned, you are escorted on an approximately 1 hour tour of Mark Twain’s home. Sure it is a big house, but have you ever gone to a friend’s place and had them give you a 1 hour tour of their house? You can imagine just how many not-​so-​fascinating stories have to be told in order to fill that hour. In addition to the dragged out experience, many of the furnishings and decorations within the house are «period replicas.» Meaning what you’re seeing is not original to Twain, and is simply a re-​creation in the home where he had lived. Ugh.
Unless you are in Hartford, and have a Groupon, I would not advise that you spend your money and time here.

I am enthusiast of museum tours, and of Mark Twain in general so I was very excited. My family and I came from New York (city) to see the museum and I can say, very honestly, that we are all VERY disappointed!
All this on a Saturday, which is when a museum should be at its BEST!
The house is beautiful, and the property as well however I am dumbfounded at how absolutely awful the tour was.
First of all, our «tour guide» was pretty bad. She was knowledgeable enough to do the tour (I guess) but she was the worst speaker ever, she stopped every few seconds and did not make it a story line as a tour should be. My BIGGEST disappointment, however, was the inside of the house. About 80% of the memorabilia inside was NOT original! Of these, included a tacky bright blue HUGE vase in the dining room. It had some ugly feathers sticking out of it and stuck out like a sore thumb.
Literally, most of the furniture, books, children’s toys, table settings, etc., were not original. This left an awful taste in my mouth because I was no longer interested in anything the tour guide was saying because it was all fake! The features of the home that she was describing weren’t the way it was so it really defeated the purpose!
We then went back into the museum to grab a bite to eat at their «café.» There was nothing in Stock other than some stupid chips and cookie leftovers. A measly 2 sandwiches and 3 salads. I don’t meant as the variety I mean one of each, so 5 things out. They were sold out in a minute because people grabbed what they could and the display is now entirely empty!
Just EVERYTHING was disappointing. I can’t believe they charge $ 18 a ticket for this! IT IS NOT WORTH A TRIP, REALLY!

Just an incredible place I feel that has so much history in it. The house for the time frame is an incredible piece of work. Two Well known books were written here and to see the desk they were written upon is amazing I think.
To be so near there things and to know there from the 1800’s and they let you get so up close to it. Not like the mansions in Newport is amazing.
I think the tour is very knowledgeable and I learned things I didn’t know about. It’s Well worth the cost I feel and many things to do and take in near by as Well.

Museum and Grounds — 3 stars
Guided Tour — 2 stars (At Best)
As a native to Connecticut I remember coming here as a youngster with my parents and being awe inspired at the house and grounds of this great American author and orator. As visitors are only allowed into the main house with a tour guide — it’s that interaction that made the field interesting and informative. Walking into an empty house was brought to life by the stories and history that the tour guide brought with him/​her.
Fast forward a *couple* years and I ventured back with a family member whom was visiting for the day and wanted to see something quintessential Connecticut. It’s a steep price to even enter the doors at $ 18 and we were lucky that a tour was just about to start. Our tour of the grounds and house was lead by Charlotte, whom we learned throughout the tour was still in high school and possibly had her mother get her the job.
I have no problem with either of these facts — what I do and did have a problem with was her unprofessional attitude and decorum through out the tour («You guys» was a common question to the group), the lack of a consistent narrative as we toured the house, and the realization that she was «testing» out stories on us (which she revealed to us several times). If I am paying $ 18 to learn the history of the Clemens and the house he lived in for almost 20 years — I want to learn about all aspects (from his writing to his bankruptcy and beyond) of it and not have to go back to the Visitor’s Center to do so. It would behoove the staff to train their tour guides to be actual tour guides and not have the tour guide as if «there is anything else we want to know».
The lack of a consistent narrative was unprofessional for a place that touts itself as one of the Top 10 Mansions to visit in the world — the Mark Twain House sees visitors from the States and abroad but if they joined us on our tour they would have been left with a lack of learning really anything about Mark Twain and his house besides a series of hastily put together stores.

The tour costs $ 18 and takes about an hour.
Samuel Clemens and his wife had this house built in 1874 and had to move from it in 1891 due to financial problems. …he lived here when he published Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
The house is very cool… the tour guides provide a lot of insight and make everything real. Much of the house has been restored. There are also many original details. There is a lot to see… they’ve left a few areas un restored and you can see some of the original work and the extensive effort that went into making this place so special.
They ask you not to take pictures inside… I didn’t try.
Mark Twain loved it here. the people and the City of Hartford claim Twain as their own. who can blame them?

«sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it».
The man who grew up in Hannibal, was on the river by age 12, & whose amazing gift for storytelling was seminal in creating the bibliophile head that I am today…
Finally, finalleeee… I have come to pay homage to the eccentric man who loved his drink and smokes — -i mean, I am from Sacto, and I have been to Virginia City more times than I can recall…
Definitely worth the trip; the museum alone helps one to understand (quite comprehensively — whoever created that timeline mural juxtaposed against the world timeline was nothing short of genius) Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ life quite well.
From witnessing the many-​tonned Paige Compositor through which Clemens lost a great deal of his fortune, to understanding the many ways this man was advocating for social justice (long before it became… erm…trendy), loved it all. From socialite wife to life of the kids, fascinating for me.
Ken Burn’s documentary on him was playing in a room while one waits for the house tour.
$ 13 admission per adult. This does not include the servants’ quarter tour.
House itself is dark, dark (allegedly to hide his horrible teeth; reason too for his heavy mustache) and strange!!! The bed he shared with his wife… bizarre-​O! Stood in the room and spotted the desk in which he wrote his famous novels.
Watched the movie Mud recently; immediately, I was able to recognize the Mark Twain-​like elements in the movie with McConaughey. Sure enough, the guy was a huge lover of mark Twain.
Tiffany wall coverings/​textiles?!? Never knew he was a Europe vagrant for some time, and also moved to 28 acres in Redding, near the Weir Art Farm in Branchville.
Next door to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s place…& what a contrast in showiness and humble abodes too.
Tour guide was FANTASTIC