40 US Historical Homes That Are Worth the Visit

31.Mary Todd Lincoln House

They initially built the Mary Todd Lincoln House as an inn and alehouse in Lexington, Kentucky, between 1803 and 1806. It was initially called The Sign of the Green Tree, a rather delightful Hobbit-like name. Mary Todd Lincoln’s family moved into the home in 1832, where she lived until moving to Springfield, Illinois. The large Georgian style home is now a public museum that houses numerous artifacts from both the Lincoln and Todd families. On an interesting note, people believe that a former bawdy house girl and Madam who worked in the building near the turn of the 20th century inspired a character, Belle Watling, in Gone with the Wind.

Around 1975, the wife of Governor Louie Nunn, Beula Nunn, along with the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation and the Metropolitan Women’s Club of Lexington, were able to gain enough support to restore the house to its former glory. Almost a year later, the Beula C. Nunn Garden was dedicated and opened to the Public at the Mary Todd Lincoln House. The enclosed gardens now show what may have been planted and grown in the home in the early nineteenth century. The property is open to the public as a museum.