first families kennebunkport museum

We recently went on a tour of White columns (formerly, the Nott House) that is part of First Families. It was during Prelude, Kennebunkport's two weekend Christmas/holiday celebration. A tour of the house not only tells you interesting information about White Columns (such as it had the first flushing toilet in the state) but also tells the history of the town. Lots of fascinating facts that as a resident I was not even aware of. Most of the furnishings are original. It is probably especially worthwhile to take the tour before Christmas when the house is decorated festively for the holidays. Our tour guide was particularly informative. There is also the First Families exhibit with items on loan from the Bush family plus an interesting video on 41's life. Plus- a gift shop!! Worth checking out if you'd like to know more about the town, its history and presidential connection.

Great exhibit at White Columns near Dock Square, a tribute in photos to the First Family - the Bush Family and their time in the White House and Kennebunkport http://www.kennebunkportmainelodging.com/white-columns-bush-family-exhibit.htm

Thought the museum price was a tad pricey, but since we didn't actually do the museum tour, I couldn't say for sure. The shop was very interesting, as well as the tour guide who manned it.

While my husband stayed at the inn to let his sore leg muscles relax I decided to walk to the Nott House and see the First Families exhibit. The docent is just the nicest and most gracious woman. She offered a full tour of the house or just the current exhibit of Bush 41's family life. For lack of time I chose the latter and was not disappointed. The jumpsuit that George wore for his 90th birthday helicopter jump is there as well as some birthday gifts from the king of Morocco, Bill Clinton, and others. There are great photos of the Bushes lining the walls along with captions and history. If you are not a fan of the Bushes you may not care for the $10 fee to just see this exhibit and might want to have the whole house tour as well at no added cost. Personally I loved it given the interesting items on loan from the Bush family (and my time constraints). Oh, and the kind lady who pointed out some fascinating tidbits that I might have missed on my own. I wish I'd gotten her name--She loves her job in this beautiful home and it shows in the pleasure she takes in sharing the history with the visitors.

This beautiful white columned home is on Rt 9 just past Dock Square. For a $10 fee you can have a private tour of the home. Virtually every item is original to the house and you actually go in the rooms. The are no red velvet ropes. Some rather unique furnishings to see.At the end of the tour the is a room filed with items belonging to George H. W. Bush. Delightful! This home is well worth the time and price of admission.

An informative tour, a great location to town, great Bush exhibit. Tour guide was knowledgeable about the towns history, the interesting story of the family, and the Bush's.

This was a nice tour of the home of the former wealthiest man in Kennebunkport. It's about a 30-minute tour and very interesting. Attached to the house was a separate exhibit of the George H. W. Bush family and various personal effects and pictures from their life in the public eye as well as on Walker's Point. This is a stop on the Intown Trolley.

They had a small Bush family area and interesting old house tour. The tour guide was going to the Bush home the next day for lunch!

The collection they have of the items that were donated by the Bush family is very interesting. The fisher house is nicely kept and has many original items. The tour is a bit long and the docent we had was sweet, but very young and spoke so fast that we had trouble understanding him at times. I would recommend stopping in because of the Bush collection, however $10 per person was a bit steep for the value.

Our recent visit to this museum really exceeded my expectations. The museum itself is a house from the mid 1800's. It belonged to one of the richest families in town at the time. The house belonged in the family until the 1980's and then was left to the historical society. The tours are lead by very knowledgeable volunteers and the groups are small, so you have plenty of time to look around and ask questions. On the day we went, we were the only ones on the tour, so it felt like a private tour. The house and all of its furnishings are all kept as it was in the 1850's. There is one room in the house that is dedicated to the former president Bush and his families connection to the area. That alone was worth the price, but the house and it's history is really interesting.