55 Mount Vernon Street is one of four brick rowhouses attributed to Charles Bulfinch and built in 1804 by the politician Jonathan Mason for his daughters; it is the best-preserved of the group, Federal in style with a Greek Revival portico added in the 1830s. Dr Arthur Nichols and his wife Elizabeth bought the house in 1885, and their eldest daughter Rose Standish Nichols — landscape gardener, writer, suffragist and pacifist — lived here until her death in 1960, bequeathing it to open to the public as a museum in 1961. The period rooms reflect the family's own tastes and hold Boston furniture, Flemish tapestries, Chinese ceramics and a gilded bronze bust of Victory by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, alongside everyday objects such as a 1936 radio. The house can only be visited on a guided tour, and runs across three floors with no elevator.
55 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA 02108, United States
Nearest station: Park Street (Red & Green Lines), Charles/MGH (Red Line), Bowdoin (Blue Line)
Show on map| Mon | Closed |
| Tue | 10:00–12:00 |
| Wed | 10:00–12:00 |
| ThuToday | 10:00–12:00 |
| Fri | 10:00–12:00 |
| Sat | 10:00–14:00 |
| Sun | 11:00–13:00 |
From $16
Seniors 65+ $13; students and educators $8; children 12 and under free; members free. Free for NARM members, staff of other museums with ID (2 per ID), active-duty military plus up to five family members (Blue Star Museums), and EBT/WIC/SUN Bucks/ConnectorCare cardholders (2 per card) via Mass Cultural Council's Card to Culture. National Trust members 2-for-1; AAA members $1 off. Group rates for 8 or more, booked in advance by phone or email.
The museum occupies three floors with no elevator and has one small bathroom. Visits are by guided tour only.
John Phelan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)