The Hermitage – Home of President Andrew Jackson

History buffs need to pay a visit to Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.
When Andrew Jackson was president, this was a very different country. Learn all about the man and the times at the Hermitage. Beautiful grounds and a beautiful house with lots to see and even explore.

We were finally able to explore The Home of President Jackson on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. If you are a history buff, or at least can appreciate wonderful architecture and landscaping, this is a must. Both the self-​guided tour and mansion tour were well done. The horse drawn wagon ride was fun, and made it easy to get out to the far parts of the mansion grounds, but probably not worth the added the cost.
There is a museum you are supposed to start with (we finished with it, but I wish we had started with it) which is also well done. It took us about three hours, but I think two hours would be plenty of time to see the museum, the guided tour through the mansion, and then another hour or so to meander through the beautiful grounds at your leisure. (There are many audio stops throughout the grounds.)
Definitely would recommend checking this out to anyone who hasn’t yet!

Wonderful wxperience. The interpreters were really friendly and knowledgeable. The property is in really amazing condition. Beautiful gardens and grounds. Respectful interpretation of some very sad parts of American history. They don’t hide the fact that the Hermitage was a plantation ran with slave labor or Jackson’s part in «Indian removal». My only complaint is the purchase of tickets on line. When I arrived, I was told that I had to stand in the ticket line even though I had already purchased a ticket on their website. Then the lady in the ticket booth looked at my e-​ticket on my phone like it was an alien! Then I had to fill out a piece of paper! Please do not offer tickets online if there is no point to them!

I went here with my dad & daughter on his trip here for a family visit. I have to say, I absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to go back. The only downfall? Was a few of the employees were extremely uncalled for rude. It’s a lot of walking as well. Which is ok. They offer horse & buggy rides if it helps :). Beautiful land, history and place to go for fun.

Nice
Walk and
Well thought out
Tour of estate.
Informative, glides by controversy.

I figured a fun trip to Nashville must include a little history. Andrew Jackson was out 7^th president and this was his home. Hermitage means solitude in French and that is what AJ felt when he built this place. The self guided tour is $ 20, the presidential tour is $ 27, don’t do it, not any difference in the tours. The tour guides are all retired people and a few of them are kinda crabby, and some are kinda of funny. The tour of the house gives one a get insight into AJ life, and the life of his family. One can walk around the grounds, you can see the original log cabin. This was very nice. Of course no visit would be complete without a stop in the gift shop. This tour takes about and hour and a half, but it is really a step back in history.

Loved this! So glad we finally made the time to stop by.
The signage was clear, and there was amply parking upon arrival. We paid our admission ($ 20/​each) and grabbed our audio devices for the self-​guided tour. Big complaint here – there was no was explaining how to operate the device, which we eventually figured out… but most of all, it just felt like a waste I had to tote around in my purse.
The exhibits were really interesting – lots of artifacts from Andrew Jackson’s life. It was really well executed, and the flow of the tour was nice… self-​guided exhibits followed by the house tour. There’s a garden and wagon tour offered as well – we didn’t partake.
The house and grounds were really enchanting. There are dozens of kinds of trees, all well-​kept and towering over the property. Lots of signage throughout, explaining different milestones throughout the Jacksons’ lives. I learned a lot about Andrew Jackson, and was impressed as to how well-​managed the facility is. One thing to note: while the tours are kept fairly small, I still felt it was a bit too large… while there were about 10 of us, some of the areas of the house that were being described by guides were a bit too cramped for everyone to see around. It was a quick tour, so I think ample time to look around should be assumed. We seemed to be the ones trailing the group, just to get a good look at whatever was just described, sometimes forcing us to miss the intro of the next part of the tour.
On the stretch of walking tour beyond the home, we saw wild turkeys and a mama deer and her baby… a really cool sight in the midst of this tour.
Gift store was cute – lots of items for people of all ages. Adjoining café as well (we didn’t stop here, so I can’t attest to its glory). ;)
We’ll definitely be back! Highly recommend.

Pretty cool tour. They have a fair amount of artifacts and a large amount of «boards» to explain the life and times of Andrew Jackson. Have been here several times over the years and learn something new every time. It’s a must do if in the area.

I love learning about history, but I am the worst at remembering anything about it. For example, I had ZERO clue what Andrew Jackson’s deal was (besides being a president). I learned from my trip to Hermitage that Andrew Jackson was pretty much a huge SOB. But luckily that didn’t change my opinion of this historic site.
This site is located about 20 – 30 minutes outside of downtown Nashville. The grounds are really nice and it definitely feels like a southern plantation. You start out at the visitors center and get the option of self-​guided or guided tour. We chose self-​guided and really enjoyed it. The headsets they give you are loaded with information– there is even a kids audio tour series… I MAY or MAY NOT have listened to a few of the kids tour segments… don’t judge. Also, FYI– The indoor portion of the tour had live tour guides, which was cool.
If you have never been to a southern historical home, I’d definitely check this one out. Give yourself plenty of time– we had 2 hours and I felt it was a bit rushed. But FWIW, I’m that person at a museum who has to read every single plaque and look at every single item. Price wise, I think it was around $ 20 a person, which wasn’t too bad. Make sure to wear walking shoes, as the visitors center/​parking is a bit of a walk from the home.

This was a last minute decision and I am so glad we did it!
Such a beautiful place to visit. So rich in history and beauty!
The tour guides were knowledgeable and friendly inside the mansion.
I would recommend the «audio tour» for walking the grounds! A lot of walking if you want to explore the whole plantation. (It is worth it).
If you are bringing school aged children, I would recommend brushing up on some of the history of that time period as well as info on Andrew Jackson, his wife and children. I think doing it beforehand would really bring it to life as you visit The Hermitage!
Tip: No large bags or camera bags are allowed on the tour or grounds.

If you like history, nice homes and a cool estate to hike around (seriously, you can do a lot of walking around here) — come to the Andrew Jackson House if you’re visiting Nashville!
My wife and I really enjoyed our time here — it was one of our first true stops (aside from food and nightlife) during our maddeningly fun cross country road trip in December of 2014. We came here only a few hours before closing time and had a wonderful time hiking, exploring, learning and getting pictures with the appropriately time period dressed tour guides.
Throughout the tour, you’re of course guided through Andrew Jackson’s home. It’s incredible to witness the fantastic job they’ve done in preserving it. Although not everything is original, certain things are… including books that are nearly 300 years old! It’s a nice exercise to walk in and imagine how they used to live and have some objects that are from that period to relate to.
We had a really nice time walking around, taking pictures, going on the self-​guided audio tour AND the not self-​guided tour through the house. It was definitely worth the admission price!

I don’t think I’m a true fan of Andrew Jackson since he owned human beings and was proud of that, but his home preserved as a historical site and museum is definitely a must-​visit for those interested in American and Southern history. The house has been beautifully preserved and the admission is only like $ 25 per person which is well worth the price.
My husband and I paid for the upgraded «iPod» tour experience which gave us an audio tour (with markers along the grounds for your listening pleasure) as well as awesome additional pictures and maps on the iPod for your viewing pleasure. They were nice supplements to the listening portions since there were photos of things that were out of view in the home or blocked off by partitions and off-​limits to guests.
The grounds and house have been nicely preserved by the Ladies of the Hermitage, which has worked (interestingly) since the late 19^th century to preserve the home and the grounds. One of Jackson’s former slaves even decided to stay on the property after he was granted his freedom, bought several items at an auction from his former owner, and agreed to give them back to the museum if he was allowed to be The Hermitage’s first-​ever tour guide. Definitely a unique and interesting story and worth visiting to learn about it.
There’s still some preserved slave quarters and other farming buildings as well as a cotton «field» that is planted each spring that guests can pick in the summer months to see really how difficult and painful it is to pick cotton. The grounds are vast and you could spend a few hours just walking around, taking different trails by the creek and everything, and just viewing all of the foliage and flowers.
Andrew Jackson and his wife are buried on the property in a small cemetery with other family members and slaves, which is worth a visit. The audio tour (which comes with both tour prices) is worth listening to, especially for anecdotes and other historical information about the grounds and buildings all over the property.
I really enjoyed the time and effort that the museum staff have put in to preserve this property and how they have worked to share Andrew Jackson’s story with the public. Definitely a must visit, even if you’re passing through. We were only there for about 2.5 hours and saw most of the grounds, the house, other structures on the property, and listened to all of the audio and video selections offered.

This is expensive at $ 19 a person. That being said, it was actually worth it!
My sister and I spent between 2 and 3 hours exploring the entire site. There is a museum, Andrew Jackson’s house, the grave site, and the plantation grounds.
The outside part of the experience is pretty extensive, so I would recommend coming on a nice day, and wear walking shoes.
The regular entrance fee includes an audio tour. If you aren’t familiar with these, there is a device you wear around your neck (that looks like a clunky remote) with some headphones. Around the grounds, you come across numbers, and at that time you type them into your device, and you listen to a recording for a couple of minutes. They had alternative numbers for a youth-​specific audio tour, and then there were additional number that related specifically to Andrew Jackson’s wife. If you look at your map, they also have some additional audio tour numbers that aren’t posted around the grounds, and if you are tired of walking around and want to take a break on a bench and sit down, that’s the perfect time to listen to those non-​location-​specific selections. Overall, the audio tour was good (but sometimes a little bit repetitive).
You are directed to go through the museum first, and that provides some overarching background and context to the rest of the site, if you aren’t terribly familiar with Andrew Jackson-​specific history. These exhibits were high quality and well put together. My biggest complaint is their lack of good audio engineering in one of the rooms as some of the sounds /​recordings played over each other, and it wasn’t very pleasant.
When you reach the house, they queue you up and bring you through in «tour groups.» I put tour groups in quotes because I’d say that the house tour was the worst part of The Hermitage, and it didn’t feel like much more than a walk-​through. I don’t feel like the docents provided very much information, and their logistical setup wasn’t very organized. Instead of having one tour guide lead each group through the house, they passed you off between about 4 different people, which led to a disjointed experience.
At the house, you are able to look into the various rooms throughout the house, and I was very interested to learn that a lot of the furniture was original! Also, I must say that the entry-​way hand painted wallpaper was absolutely gorgeous and worth taking a very close look at.
The grave site was next to the house, and it was the final resting place for both Andrew Jackson and his wife along with other members of his family and one of the family slaves.
Our walk through the grounds was a very short «hike» via a very easy walk path. If you don’t mind walking, I would definitely forego the horse drawn carriage ride as they take you the same places.
There is a gift shop and a small café (which we didn’t try). The gift shop included a penny-​smusher machine, so don’t forget your quarters!

Andrew Jackson’s The Hermitage is a beautiful little attraction set outside of Nashville. The price was $ 20 each at the time of our visit and that included a basic audio tour and a tour of the Hermitage. They offered another package which included an advanced audio tour and some other stuff. The attraction also has a horse and buggy ride through the plantation. The land is beautiful and has a garden and other houses and slave quarters attached to the property. Also you can visit Andrew Jackson’s grave, who we suspect is «Batman» as there is a grave right beside his that was labeled «Uncle Alfred».
The tour of the house was fairly short and you stayed on a carpeted path. The house is all original but the wallpaper and paint has been restored throughout the years. You can’t go into any of the rooms as they have them blocked off with plexiglass. You are in a group of around 10 – 12 people and as you advance your way though the house you are crammed into the hallways as the house has a few different tour guides standing throughout it. The guides only tell you about the rooms you can see from your location and then you carry on. Once outside again, you are free to roam around and do whatever you like.

This year, the Hermitage is celebrating the bicentennial of Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans. Admission is free every year on the anniversary of the battle, and even though it was bitter cold, there was a great turnout for the celebration.
They have a new exhibit this year, «Jackson, Born for a Storm», which is a fascinating display about the battles fought by our seventh president in war, love, and politics.

As much as I don’t like the phrase «most visit», this actually meets that expectation. I was told by the tour guides this is most completely authentic presidential mansion. The home is very ornate with original colors and wall paper. Almost all furniture is period pieces. The story of the evolution of the mansion is just as interesting.
But wait there’s more. The garden was past peak but still looked really nice. The tombs were a nice monument on it own. The restored/​replaced cabins give you good idea of living quarters at time. Optional carriage ride was $ 10a piece. There are two levels of tours guided by mp3 players. At $ 17 with AAA discount for general tour it was two and half hours before the gift shop stop. For $ 24 with discount was Presidential tour, more info but not much more time.
There are some really beautiful photo opportunities here. The back of mansion and the entry way offer many great views. The best view of mansion front is from the end of the driveway to the front door. The cedars frame front porch really well abd from a distance you can’t see the people in picture.

If you’re an American, you must do this. What a great piece of history. They have excellent tour guides who explain everything you need to know about Jackson, his family, and the property. The 20 minute introductory video is good for some background on Jackson, but I didn’t listen much to the headset they handed out. The tour guides answered every question with lots of enthusiasm and without hesitation.
If you want to be thorough, you really need to spend a solid 4 hours here. The mansion tour itself is only about an hour, but if you want to walk along the plantation, it’s over 1,000 acres so prepare to do a lot of walking. I only wish they rented golf carts!
$ 19 for adult admission. Plan on driving or taking about a $ 25 – 30 cab ride from downtown Nashville. There really is no other way to get here.

If you’re into presidents and enjoy seeing their homes, The Hermitage is one of those have to visit types of places. It’s a lovely home, gardens and property. It’s one of those historical spots that I’m happy I went but I don’t think it would ever require a second visit. That’s just me though. I am very into US History and presidents & if you’re the same way, The Hermitage will have a plethora of information for you to digest.
Everything was quite interesting but there are mosquitoes galore! My friend and I completely underestimated how many mosquitoes there would be. This cut our visit slightly short because I was being eaten alive. My pasty pale skin is like a beacon of light to these little blood suckers who indulged on my succulent supply to develop their eggs. So a word to the wise, wear some bug spray. Off Deep Words.
All the staff working at The Hermitage was very friendly with some being more knowledgeable than others going through the house. It was cool to see the bed in which AJ took his last breath.
The Hermitage has a little gift shop with many overpriced items such as old fashioned chocolates, postcards, games, soaps — a whole variety of options.

About 3.5: The Hermitage is the home of President Andrew Jackson. When you walk in, you are shown a 25-​minute video on the life of President Jackson (I actually dozed off: x Afterwards, you are given a self-​guided headphone and audio device where you punch in numbers according to whatever you see on your path. I think I would have preferred an actual tour guide as I believe that will be more informative and beneficial, especially when you’re paying a steep price for admission! I did enjoy seeing the Smokehouse, the outside kitchen, the Hermitage Garden with the beautiful flowers and stone veranda, Alfred’s Cabin (an enslaved and later a freed man who lived on the premise for the rest of his life), and the resting place of President Jackson and his wife, Rachel, who rests under a beautiful temple-​like tomb. The place is expansive, as the Hermitage is about 1120 acres.
+self-​guided headphone & audio tour
+Smokehouse
+outside kitchen
+Hermitage Garden
+Alfred’s Cabin
+resting place of President Jackson and his wife, Rachel

I have never really stopped in Nashville unless it involved getting White Castle on a trip to Louisville. However, with my extra time and bad weather, I kind of wanted to play tourist a little since I have never really given NSH the time of day. There was overcast that day, so I knew there would not be as many tourists (my kind of time to go to places) as usual.
Finding the place was fairly easy, which is always a plus. I had no idea how much land there was– with that being said, make sure you bring proper footwear.
When I parked at the visitor’s center, I was greeted by some grumpy horses. I tried to pet them, and they just shit allover the place. So much for petting farm animals.
Upon entering, the large brick center is setup by gift shop on the left and the ticket area/​entrance to the right. I got the ticket with all the bells and whistles (if you have AAA make sure you use it for a discount) — but I know I didn’t get any autographs, pictures or freebies with the ticket.
The first thing you do is enter a theater and watch a 15 – 20 minute film discussing the life and times of Andrew Jackson. Then you walk down a hallway and see pictures and memorabilia. At the end of the hallway, you pick up your audio guide (if you paid for it). There is a small room beyond that houses more goodies. After that, you were free to roam the property.
It is about a ¼ mile to the main building, but when I was there it was tough to get solid exterior shots, as they were remodeling. Also, take note you can take pics anywhere except in the main house.
I walked around checking the property before going to the main house. Lots of farm land, on pretty property. I liked the grave area in the garden.
It was time to enter the main house– which is actually a guided tour. Cool house on the inside with lots of history.
After that, it was time to check out the gift shop. It was big and had lots to offer, but I left empty handed.
This is a cool place to check out if you have the time.