hamill house museum

The Hamill House was recommended to us by the Visitor Information Center we found as we entered Georgetown. The Center called and the Hamill House was opened just for us. They are usually closed in the winter. We had an extremely private tour. The history of the house was most interesting. The staff member who showed us around was excited and passionate about the whole project. That always makes things more interesting. The day were were in town was extremely windy which made it unpleasant to be walking around. We would like to have done more. We highly recommend the Hamill House as a must see in Georgetown.

Great tour guide who really cared and enjoyed taking the group back In time. This tour was great before our Georgetown loop train tour as this will tie everything together. the price is very reasonable also.10.00 Have fun.

Businessmen built fortunes and created jobs. Politicians were, then, as now, well, politicians. That's what Mr. Willaim A Hamill was: a silver investor, the tour guide tells you, but then he goes on to explain: he hang around with politicians, was one of the first state senators, the Governor nominated him to be the Railroad commissioner... All this in between buying and selling silver mines and other real estate. Born in Liverpool, Mr. Hamill met his wife Priscilla in Philadelphia and then moved West where he invested heavily in silver. This ended up well and he became, for a good number of years, the richest man in Clear Creek County. He bought a house built earlier by a certain Mr. Watson (no relation to Edison's Watson!) and expanded it. There were two parts of the house that impressed me: the Conservatory, which the family could afford to buy because they A) had the money to do it and B) the Railroad had finally arrived and they could have anything shipped from back East, in this case something beautiful they had seen in Philadelphia. The other place I really liked was the swanky outhouse: not one, but six seats (3x3, I'm not sure this was common back then, or any other time after the Romans), nice wooden seats and all. Now that I think of it, the Carriage house was not bad either... You can only see the inside of the house by taking the guided tour. The tour itself takes about 1.5 hrs and is very entertaining. Admission is nominal. Photography inside the house is a strict NO-NO, but you can photograph the other buildings and the courtyard. Recommended.---------------------

I LOVED touring historic homes and I've done MANY! This one would be in my top 5! Pat, our guide, was beyond amazing! SUPER nice guy and very educated on the place. He knew the answer to every question we asked! He was sweet. Our son was beat up tired (13 years old) and didn't have another tour in him that day. Pat let him sit on the front steps (nice day) and went out to let him know when we were going outside to tour the back.As you go through the house, and listen to Pat, you can almost see the family moving about. Absolutely a must see!

Excellent tour and gorgeous house! The guide was very knowledgeable about the house but also about the history of Georgetown and that really brought everything to life. We'll definitely go back again!

This is a beautiful house and you can experience how the rich lived back in the 20th century! Beautiful decor and fascinating to see just what money could buy you in the early frontier days.

Mr. Hamill who owned and expanded the Hamill House had lots of money and wanted everyone to know it. The wood work inside the house is intricately carved. They had a conservatory right in the house with heat coming up from the floor so they could sit in the garden even in the dead of winter and enjoy the flowers. Mr. Hamill had a live-in nanny for his five children and a live-in stable man for his horses. The stable man lived on the second floor of the stable. The outhouse has two sides, one for family and one for servants. The servants get pine seats and the family get black walnut seats. All the fireplaces are showpieces. Quite an interesting house. The guide knew what she was supposed to know, but wasn’t able to answer our questions. Well worth going to.

We took the Georgetown Loop and missed this museum years back as it was closed. Went today and arrived when a tour was in progress. The woman didn't give a very good tour and hurried us along - so we missed several rooms as she wanted us to join what was in progress. The house is very nice and I am sure has a very rich history. I believe the person might of been a volunteer showing the house as she said she was 81 - I guess I would try and hurry it a bit too. The other issue was the price - seniors were one price, then she gave special prices to other parties, I believe that should of been consistent. Wasn't worth what we paid but if we would of gotten the full tour and more information on the history of the home then it would of been. It was my husband, myself and my 70 year old parents who attended.

This was our second tour of the Hamill House, and we're glad we came again. This time we toured with my daughter's class, and they added an awesome hands-on exhibit for the kids in one of the back buildings. The kiddos could touch all sorts of old-time kitchen and laundry gadgets! They really enjoyed it. Thanks Hamill staff for a fun time...again!

Dear TheObjectiveCritic:Thank you for your very objective review. We use reviews such as yours to improve what the museum offers to visitors.As you mentioned in your review of the Hamill House Museum, the majority of furnishings and decorations are original to the house. All of the "architecture" is original to the house. Perhaps what makes the Hamill House Museum unique is its location at 8,519 feet in the Rocky Mountains. The completion of such a house tells a deeper story of not only Georgetown, but also the American West. It is a testament to the wealth extracted from the surrounding mountainsides and an example of Colorado's infamous Boom & Bust economy throughout the ages. The idea of a refined community springing up from the humble beginnings of a mining tent camp is indeed unique. Furthermore, the fact that Georgetown, including its architecture, its history, and its cultural landscapes, has survived when other towns such as Breckenridge, Vail, and Blackhawk have been lost to overdevelopment and commercialism is equally unique. Thanks to the wisdom of early historic preservationists in Georgetown, the town, along with its sister town Silver Plume which lies up the valley, was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1966 by the US Dept. of the Interior. The Town of Georgetown is also a Certificied Local Governement which means the town and its historic fabric is forever protected from overdevelopment and the loss of historic assets. During the Georgetown Christmas Market, tours at the Hamill House museum offer self-guided tours. It would be impossible to give each group a one-on-one, hour-long tour during this exceptionally busy time in Georgetown. However, if you are interested in the regular guided tour, they are offered at every other time of the year during our regular season: daily between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Memorial Day-Labor Day, and weekends thereafter through November.Christmas at Hamill House sprung from the desire to share our unique asset with friends, members, and other Colorado families. It is not meant to replicate how the Hamill's spent each and every Christmas. It is a time when we can gather and enjoy each other's company and celebrate Christmas. It's not intended as a lesson in "living history." One will not see an actor make a grand entrance in period clothing posing as William Arthur Hamill. I'm sorry if that is what you were expecting and looking forward to...truly very sorry. As a matter of fact, we are very clear of our intent on the back cover of the Christmas at Hamill House program: "The purpose of the evening is quite simple: that each guest enjoy our historic house, the holiday season, the company of old friends and new, and the traditions of Christmas." From past experience, one hour of cocktail hour is not enough to chat with old & new friends, and it's certainly not enough time to eat, drink, and make merry in our opinion.Furthermore, you are incorrect in your assumption that having a Christmas tree "didn't really become a common tradition in the United States until later..." The Hamill family and many, many other families did, indeed, have Christmas trees throughout their tenure in Georgetown and celebrated in grand elegance, contrary to what you may imagine or believe. Fresh oysters were even served by the Hamill family! And Wassailing, the burning of the Yule log, and other traditions that have been kept alive did, indeed, actually occur. As a matter of fact, the image of the Christmas tree on the cover of the program provided to you as our beloved butler Ken welcomed you into the home was donated by the Hamill family and is a true image of the Hamill children's nursery Christmas tree. Georgetown has a rich database of newspaper archives at the Clear Creek County Archives. Anyone is welcome to review those articles. We also have extensive newspaper holdings from the 19th century which describe in great detail the Hamill Christmas trees and their celebrations throughout the years. Christmas trees were VERY popular from about the mid-19th century, and even middle class families had intricately decorated Christmas trees. And although we can not spare for our modern Christmas tree a historic US flag with the correct number of stars, I think it is fair to say that we do a darn good job of honoring our past veterans and those still fighting abroad for our freedoms by including the US flags on our tree. We also sing a very touching folk song that embodies our shared hope for a world without war. Again, I'm very sorry your experience at Christmas at Hamill House was not what you expected, but nevertheless i'm glad you considered it "an enjoyable experience." Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!If you are interested in learning more about the history of Christmas trees, an easy way to do so is to visit http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html .

The Hamill House tour was part of a recreational trip package we participated in from Aurora, Colorado. The main reason for the trip was to attend the Christmas Fair taking place throughout town, but we also got tickets to tour the Hotel de Paris and the Hamill House. As with the Hotel de Paris, the tour guides brought the place to life giving information about the family and the Silver Baron that owned the place. It is preserved in a most accurate manner and gives one a sense of what it must have been like to live in a mansion in a mining town. Hats off to the Ladies and Gentleman that "educated" us about this treasure. Georgetown is fortunate to have such wonderful Ambassadors.

We were actually very lucky as my nephews wife works there and she was able to give us a private tour. What a great old house with a lot of history behind it. A must see when visiting historic Georgetown.

A very well maintained example of a wealthy 19th century miner's residence. The property is maintained by Historic Georgetown, Inc. and they do a wonderful job with all of their properties.

See inside the large home of a wealthy 1800's Georgetown mine owner. Mostly original furnishings. There are steps up to the second floor.

Great for the grandkids, and the lawns are pleasant - would love to have a greenhouse room like in this old house