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Mark Twain House by Kenneth C. Zirkel from Wikimedia Commons

Top 9 Amazing Facts about Mark Twain’s House

The Mark Twain House and Museum are located in New England, especially in Hartford, Connecticut. Mark Twain may be more commonly associated with the Mississippi and the Wild West.

From 1874 through 1891, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, resided here with his family. He resided there with his wife Olivia, and daughters Susy, Clara, and Jean, and composed many of his most famous works there.

Here are 9 interesting things you probably didn’t know about the house.

1. The Clemens family relocated to Europe in 1891 as a result of bad financial investments

Clemens, his wife Olivia, and their middle daughter Clara spent the years 1895–1896 travelling so that he could give lectures and earn the money necessary to pay off their obligations because the Panic of 1893 further threatened their financial stability.

He wrote about the journey in Following the Equator (1897). The family could not be reunited since Susy and Jean, their other two daughters had remained behind during this period and Susy passed away from spinal meningitis on August 18, 1896, at home. After this catastrophe, they could not bring themselves to live there, and they spent the majority of their remaining years living abroad. In 1903, they marketed the home.

2. It was rescued from possible demolition 

Mark Twain House by dwhartwig from

Later, the structure served as a school, an apartment complex, and a public library branch. It was saved from demolition in 1929 and given to the newly established non-profit organisation Mark Twain Memorial, which is now responsible for its maintenance. A National Historic Landmark designation was given to the structure in 1962.

It’s opening as a house museum in 1974 following a renovation project. 2003 saw the construction of a multimillion-dollar, LEED-certified visitors’ centre with a museum devoted to highlighting Twain’s life and work.

3. In 2008, the home experienced severe financial difficulties

The museum was aided by publicity about their plight, prompt response from the state of Connecticut, corporations, and other donors, as well as a benefit performance organised by writers.

The house faced serious financial difficulties in 2008, in part due to construction cost overruns related to the new visitors’ centre. Since then, the museum has declared better financial health; nevertheless, the recovery was hampered by the revelation in 2010 of a million dollar embezzlement by the museum’s comptroller, who pled guilty and was sentenced to jail.

4. The house was built to resemble a riverboat

Mark Twain House by dwhartwig from

The house has a steeply pitched roof typical of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, as well as an asymmetrical bay window design. According to legend, the house was built to resemble a riverboat. The home was built in the Victorian Stick style, according to A Field Guide to American Houses.

The house was renovated, the grounds were re-landscaped, and an adjacent strip of land was bought in 1881. The front hall was expanded, the kitchen was completely redone, and the driveway was redrawn. In addition, the family put in new heating, plumbing, and a burglar alarm. The home cost $70,000 after improvements, $22,000 was spent on furnishings, and $31,000 was spent on the land’s initial purchase.

5. After its completion, the Clemens family moved into the house in 1874

The billiards area and his private study, where he would stay up late to write, were located on the top level. Everyone besides the cleaning crew was absolutely prohibited from entering the space. Additionally, it was utilised to provide booze and cigars for entertaining male guests. Twain remarked, “In this house, there should be a space designated for swearing. To have to suppress a feeling like that is risky.”

The youngsters had a separate space that included a nursery and a playroom/classroom. In the sizable classroom on the second floor, Mrs Clemens tutored her daughters. In the conservatory, Clemens played with his kids while acting like an elephant on a fictitious safari.

6. In this house, Clemens wrote several of his most well-known writings

Mark Twain by chemungvalleymuseum.org from

Because he knew many different authors from his Hartford neighbourhood, like Isabella Beecher Hooker and the next-door neighbour, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Clemens enjoyed living there. In addition, he entertained actors Henry Irving, Lawrence Barrett, and Edwin Booth as well as writers Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George Washington Cable, and William Dean Howells.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Life on the Mississippi (1879) are only two of the notable books that Clemens wrote while living here (1883). He decided to restore the home in 1881, and Louis Comfort Tiffany was hired to oversee the interior design because of the popularity of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

7. Katharine Seymour Day raised money to save the Twain house from destruction

The Twain House was spared from demolition in 1929 by Katharine Seymour Day, a grandniece of Harriet Beecher Stowe who had interacted with the Clemens family. She established the Friends of Hartford nonprofit, and over the course of a two-year capital campaign, it raised $100,000 to pay the home’s mortgage. Between 1955 and 1974, it underwent a thorough restoration.

It took decades to pay off the mortgage, acquire funds for the property’s decaying restoration, and gather antiquities, furniture, and personal belongings. Just in time for the house’s 100th anniversary, the entire process was ultimately completed in 1974. The National Trust for Historic Preservation also gave it the David E. Finley Award in 1977 for “exemplary rehabilitation.”

8. In 1999, the house underwent a significant makeover

Beginning in 1999, the home had a significant repair that included work on the exterior wood, tile, and terra cotta brick as well as the reconstruction of the purple slate roofing. The house and gardens were returned to the condition they were in between 1881 and 1891, when the Clemenses loved the place the most, through restoration and preservation.

To restore the Tiffany-decorated interiors, experts restored the marble floor in the entrance hallway, re-stencilled and painted the walls and ceilings, and varnished the woodwork. Two federal funds totalling $3 million from Save America’s Treasures helped pay for some of the restorations. In the restoration, scanning computers were also employed. Today, the house is filled with 50,000 items, including manuscripts, old photos, furniture from the family, and Tiffany glass.

9. Rumor has it that the house is haunted 

Ghosts walk by Harland, Marion from

In the Mark Twain House Museum, there are a lot of ghosts that live there. Many individuals think they’ve seen Susy Clemens’ ghost strolling about the house. One woman even asserts that Susy’s ghost possessed her while she was on the house tour.

According to her niece, the Hispanic woman was forced up against the wall because she couldn’t speak English. The rest of the group believed she was having a seizure. She started to talk about “getting out of here” and “searching for mama” while speaking with an American accent.

The house and museum remain open, but with fewer visitors than many other sites across the country at this time of writing. It is strongly advised that one buy tickets in advance and make plans.

Even if someone shows up without a ticket, there is no guarantee that they will be able to get in. Only guided tours are available for public access to the Mark Twain House.