Please note that businesses, attractions, and events throughout New England have been closed and/or canceled in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. Please travel responsibly, and check with individual businesses and event organizers before making travel plans.

As of late May 2020: The Mark Twain House and Museum is closed until further notice, but don’t miss its 3-D Virtual Tour online!

In 1874, Samuel Clemens — better known by his pen name, Mark Twain — moved into a 25-room Farmington Avenue mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, with his wife, Livy, and their two young daughters, Susy and Clara (baby sister Jean would come along in 1880). The family spent a total of 17 lively years in the house, and it’s where Clemens wrote some of his best-loved works.

Aimee Tucker

The family left the house when they moved to Europe in 1891. Given Susy’s sudden death from meningitis in 1896 at the age of 24, and Jean’s death from drowning in 1909 at the age of 29, the Clemens’ time in Hartford came to represent some of their happiest years.

The house became a boys’ school and then an apartment building before being rescued in 1929 by the Friends of Hartford, which established the Mark Twain Memorial and Library Commission to restore the house to its original appearance.

Named one of the 10 Best Historic Homes in the World by National Geographic, the Mark Twain House in Hartford is today a thriving museum that attracts visitors and Twain fans (not to mention architecture buffs) from all over the world.

Here’s a look at my visit to the Mark Twain House in the summer of 2016. My thanks to Deb Cohen for assisting with my visit, and to Steve Courtney and his book The Loveliest Home That Ever Was for the information in the captions below.

Virtual Tour:

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Courtesy of the Mark Twain House and Museum

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Aimee Tucker

Have you ever visited the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut?

This post was first published in 2017 and has been updated.

Mark Twain House & Museum. 351 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT. 860-247-0998; marktwainhouse.org