Grouseland

We were thoroughly pleased with our visit to Grouseland! We’ve toured a number of presidential home sites, and we learned a great deal here and enjoyed the tour and experience very much.
Most of the year, the museum is open starting at 10 a.m. (in January and February, I think it doesn’t open until 11 a.m.), and when you arrive, a sign instructs you to ring the bell and wait on the porch for a docent to greet you. We did so on a cool December day, and were soon welcomed to the mansion by a personable and knowledgeable guide, who took our admission fees ($ 5 per person) and gave us a detailed and interested TWO-​HOUR personal tour of the mansion, covering the architecture, territorial history and Harrison extensively in that time. Don’t misinterpret this to mean that our guide blathered on and on about minutia, because he did not. He pointed out important items in the rooms, talked about the house and the relevant history each room evoked, he edited his clearly extensive knowledge and allowed us to ask questions about anything further that interested us. We were the only two on this tour, and enjoyed the ongoing «conversation» as the tour progressed through the house. I had read a biography of Harrison a couple of years ago, and our guide was well acquainted with it and suggested another to me, as well.
The Georgian «great house» includes rooms that were essentially public and «state» rooms for the territorial governor. We saw a counsel room in which Harrison met with tribal representatives and leaders and learned about his pivotal meetings with Tecumseh (which took place near here in a long-​gone walnut grove because Tecumseh refused to enter Harrison’s house). We also saw the dining room in which Harrison entertained all those who wanted to come for a meal (or two … or eight). We saw the bedrooms used by the large family during the years they lived in the house and a few items that actually belong to Harrison and his family, including his bed, some of their china and a sideboard. We learned a great deal about why the house was built the way it was as well as about their life style around the time of the War of 1812.
The gift shop is not extensive, but has some nice offerings, including very inexpensive postcards and some souvenir china. Don’t miss this gem of American history! Although Harrison was president a very brief time, his pivotal role in territorial government made him incredibly influential in terms of the United States we currently live in. This home and tour offers a fascinating glimpse into our history!