Mark Twain House

Architectural oddity or beloved family home, The Mark Twain House stands today as a monument to one of America's greatest writers and social commentators. This unusual 19-room Victorian Gothic home was built in 1873-74 and occupied by the author for 17 years. During this most creative period of his career, Twain published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Life on The Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889). Investment losses compelled Twain to move to Europe in 1891. He never lived in it again.

The Friends of Hartford purchased the property in 1929 to prevent the home's demolition. The house served as the Mark Twain Branch of the Hartford Public Library for many years before a total restoration began in the 1950s. The Mark Twain House was opened as a museum in the 1960s under the auspices of the Mark Twain Memorial, the private, non-profit organization that still owns and operates the museum.

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