The Nichols House Museum offers a rare look inside a Beacon Hill home, preserved much as it was lived in during the early 20th century. The brick townhouse at 55 Mount Vernon Street is attributed to celebrated architect Charles Bulfinch and was built around 1804 for politician Jonathan Mason. It became the lifelong home of Rose Standish Nichols (1872-1960), a pioneering landscape gardener, author, suffragist, and pacifist, who bequeathed the house to be opened as a museum.
Inside, visitors find Nichols’s own collection: European and American furniture, tapestries, prints, sculpture, and decorative arts gathered over a lifetime of travel. The house provides an intimate portrait of a Beacon Hill woman of independent mind and means, set within one of Boston’s most picturesque historic districts. Guided tours interpret both the architecture and Nichols’s remarkable life. Check the official website for current days, tour times, and admission.
Good to know
- Historic house museum; visits are typically by guided tour
- Former home of landscape gardener and suffragist Rose Standish Nichols
- Townhouse dates to around 1804, attributed to architect Charles Bulfinch
- Check the official site for current days, tour times, and admission
Getting there
- Address: 55 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108
- Neighborhood: Beacon Hill
- Nearest T: Park Street (Red and Green Lines) or Charles/MGH (Red Line), each a short walk