You learn more about the Founders in their dining rooms than in any biography. These ten homes — most still on their original land, several with original furniture — show how the framers really lived, farmed, read, and (uncomfortably) enslaved.
No. 01 · Mount Vernon, Virginia
Mount Vernon
George Washington's Potomac plantation, in the family for 47 years.
The piazza overlooking the river, the working blacksmith and distillery, and Washington's tomb in one estate.
Tip · Add the 'Lives Bound Together' exhibit on the 317 enslaved people who lived here; included with admission.
No. 02 · Charlottesville, Virginia
Monticello
Thomas Jefferson's neoclassical mountaintop house, designed and redesigned for 40 years.
The dome room, the dumbwaiters, the alcove bed open on both sides — Jefferson the architect is on full display.
Tip · The Hemings Family tour, free with admission, is the essential add-on.
No. 03 · Orange, Virginia
Montpelier
James and Dolley Madison's restored Piedmont estate.
The 'Mere Distinction of Colour' exhibit in the cellars is one of the most honest treatments of slavery at any presidential site.
Tip · Allow a half-day; the grounds and trails are extensive.
No. 04 · Harlem, New York
Hamilton Grange National Memorial
Alexander Hamilton's only owned home, completed in 1802, two years before his death.
Free NPS site, beautifully restored Federal-style interior, tucked into a Harlem park.
Tip · Closed Mondays and Tuesdays; tours on the hour.
No. 05 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Independence National Historical Park
Includes Franklin Court, the footprint of Benjamin Franklin's house and print shop.
Robert Venturi's steel 'ghost' frame over the demolished house is one of the cleverest historical interpretations in America.
Tip · Free; combine with Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell on the same morning.
No. 06 · Quincy, Massachusetts
Adams National Historical Park
The birthplaces of John and John Quincy Adams, plus the family home Peacefield.
The Stone Library holds 14,000 of John Quincy Adams's books in their original 1873 shelves — extraordinary.
Tip · Trolley tour only; tickets at the visitor center in Quincy Center.
No. 07 · Mason Neck, Virginia
Gunston Hall
George Mason's 1759 home, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
Smaller and quieter than Mount Vernon (20 miles south), with the most exquisite carved interior in colonial Virginia.
Tip · Combine with Mount Vernon on a single Northern Virginia day.
No. 08 · Stratford, Virginia
Stratford Hall
Birthplace of Robert E. Lee and ancestral home of the Lees of Virginia, signers and statesmen.
1738 H-plan plantation on a bluff above the Potomac — one of the most architecturally distinctive colonial houses in America.
Tip · On the Northern Neck; a 90-minute drive from DC and worth an overnight.
No. 09 · Katonah, New York
John Jay Homestead
Retirement farm of the first Chief Justice of the United States.
Original family furnishings spanning five generations, an hour north of NYC on Metro-North.
Tip · Free entry to grounds; house tours on weekends only.
No. 10 · Charlottesville, Virginia
Ash Lawn–Highland
James Monroe's working farm, 2.5 miles from Jefferson's Monticello.
Modest by Founding Father standards — and that is the point; combine with Monticello for the contrast.
Tip · Highland combo tickets with Monticello save about $10.
Virginia holds five of the ten. Base in Charlottesville for two nights and you can comfortably visit Monticello, Montpelier, Highland, and Mount Vernon on the drive in or out.