Tours of the William Hickling Prescott House

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a Boston Brahmin living in one of the beautiful homes of Beacon Hill in the nineteenth century? Come take a tour of the Prescott House and see what the interior of one looks like and hear about the families who called this house home!
The William Hickling Prescott House is a treasure of Federal style architecture located right on Beacon Street across from the Boston Common. Built in 1808, this beautiful Beacon Hill townhouse tells the story of Boston. The first owner, James Smith Colburn, hired the renowned architect Asher Benjamin using riches derived from his import/export business.

From 1845 to 1859 the noted American historian and author, William Hickling Prescott lived here and wrote many of his most important works in his third floor study. The house was updated in the early 20th century to make way for the ‘Gilded Age’.
The Prescott House is the headquarters of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Massachusetts who maintain it as a house museum filled with lovely period antiques, not to mention an extensive collection of antique costumes (18th-20th c), which is on a rotating display.

Tours are offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 12pm and 4pm. They last about 45 minutes and depart at :15 after the hour. Admission is $7. Private and group tours are available by appointment only. We are a member of the Blue Star Museums Initiative: admission for active duty military personnel and their families is always free.