lockwood-mathews mansion museum

This beautiful home is being restored and a visit will give you a great history of the area. They have seasonal displays at the holidays and a summer 'tea'. Great for adults.

I’ve been to this mansion a few times over the past few years. It is a very nice place. The one thing I do not like is that you cannot take pictures inside (you used to be able to). They decorated the place beautifully over Christmas throughout the first floor. Alas, no picture taking allowed and they only had one picture posted on their website. Sad as it was beautiful….and no one can take pictures to remember it by!Regardless, it is a beautiful mansion, the first floor has been beautifully restored. They are restoring the second floor which will be displayed spring of 2015. The tour guide we had was excellent, cannot remember her name, it was practically a private tour for the two of us! She was able to answer all of our questions. The gift shop at the museum is not only very nice but extremely fairly priced. It’s a great place to get a special gift for someone who likes fancy china and/or anything historic. They have events there during the year such as tea parties, ice cream socials so this would make a nice outing for someone who wants to “go out with the girls” or for anyone interested in history or architecture. It’s remarkable, a much closer drive than going to Newport if you either live in Fairfield County or New York City.

The mansion is stunning! I know they have recently had a few construction projects that prohibit certain areas of the house to be viewed, but this is really a gem in Norwalk. Once you learn the history of the mansion and the difficulties the historical society has endured to make this what it is, you find yourself really rooting for them to complete the full restoration. Every time company visits from out of town, we always suggest visiting the mansion. I have yet to hear disappointment from anyone! I've been at least five times, and find this to be my favorite place to visit in Norwalk.

The mansion was under construction and only the first floor was open. The tour guide was very informative and the mansion amazing!

A beautifully restored 1860 mansion worth the trip to Norwalk. Docents are knowledgeable and friendly.

The Lockwoods built this mansion as a summer retreat in the 1800s. It took approximately four years. After having the house for several years they fell on hard times and had to sell it along with much of their possessions. This left the house without much of it's furnishings. The next owner the Mathews still in the mid 1800s bought back at auction some of the furniture as well as many additional items which are now in the house. However it now under repair and only the main level is available to see. The grounds are now quite reduced as route 95 cuts through the rear grounds. However I found the tour quite interesting, the young man who took us around was not only informed, but an architect himself giving him a unique insight as to how much of the things had been done. It is a magnificent house. I will return once the servants quarters below as well as the upper floors of the house are reopened.

The 62 room 'country' house is one of America's first mansions, built 20 years before the mansions in Newport RI. Lockwood, a contemporary and rival of the Vanderbilts brought in 200 artisans from Europe to work on the mansion. The result: a magnificent, Vistorian-era home with gilded frescos on ceilings, carved fireplaces/panelings and marbled pillars. The home included many firsts, including a burglar-alarm system, central cooling and hot/cold plumbing -- even for servants.The tour itself is very reasonably priced at $10 and the docent we had was very knowledgeale and enjoyed her work. The tour covers only the first floor (about 12 rooms) and and lasted an hour which may be a bit long for young children. There is a strict "no touch" policy. It's fascinating to hear the story of how it took longer to build (4 years) than Mr Lockwood got to enjoy the home (3 years) due to the financial crash of 1869 and early death. The exterior of the home was used in the 1970 movie, Dark Shadows and the interior was used in both Stepword Wives movies. Parmount Studios donated many period furnishings to the mansion.Bonus: During the Christmas season, the rooms are decorated with period Christmas trees from various decades (1860s, 1870s, 1880s, etc).TIP: The tours begin hourly so plan to arrive 10 minutes before the start. There is a small gift shop/book store in the waiting area -- but it can be seen in 5 minutes. There are only 2 chairs available and on our tour had 10 people waiting.

Really cool estate. Depending on the time of year you can see it decorated for the holidays! Beautiful. Amazing restoration work going on. Featured in the Stepford Wives Movie and Dark Shadows. Inside and out it is something to see. A true find for anyone into architecture and design.

Barry was a very knowledgable guide. He spent 2.5 hours with my husband & me bringing the glory days back to life in the mansion. As well as how the Town of Norwalk contributed to it's distruction. Well worth the money & time it takes to tour the mansion.

The house is beautiful though not all the furnishings are original. Second floor still needs to be refurbished, but still nice to see in the rough.

What can i say . The grounds are as beautiful as the mansion . Even a walk over to the Norwalk info center on the property is a pleasure . If you have young kids with you walk over to the Children's Museum and the playground by the water . Both are on the same grounds .

We stopped at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion on our trip to Norwalk, CT. The mansion was beautiful must have been something in its day. A lot of renovation work has been done but there is still a lot that has to be done. The tour guide was very nice and answered questions that people had as best she could. All in all, it is a nice way to spend and hour or so when in the area.

Awesome activity to do. So much information and the gift shop is good. Tour guides are friendly as well. The tour is fun and the house is spectacular!

Barely renovated enough to be worth going. This is a very rough diamond. More rough than diamond. I have been to a half dozen times over the past decade.

The second floor was closed when I visited, but is usually open. I would recommend coming here simply for the architecture and stories. Don't forget to check out the basement! That's where the bathrooms are but even if you don't need to go its worth seeing! :)