The Victorian era is an era of graciousness and elegance. It is the era where children play croquet and spend their evening playing cards. The era where the gentlemen poured over business affairs at the men’s club downtown while the ladies presided over the affairs of the house. It is the era of Rhett Butler and Scarlet O’ Hara. It is the bygone era where till today, it is endearing to those who descended from that era. The Hunter House Victorian Museum is a place where you can go and step back into this gracious period to experience the Victorian age again.

The Hunter House Victorian Museum was built in 1894 as the family home for Mr. James Wilson Hunter and his wife Lizzie Ayer Barnes Hunter and their three children James Wilson, Jr., Harriett Cornelia and Eloise Dexter.

As none of the three children married, they continued to live their adult lives in their family home. With no heirs, Eloise as the last surviving member of the family, created the Hunter Foundation. According to her will, she required the foundation to operate her “residence at 240 Freemason Street … with the furniture, decorations, paintings and curios … as a museum and example of American Victorian Architecture.”

In 1988 the Hunter’s family home was opened to the public as the Hunter House Victorian Museum. The interior was refurbished with reproduction of the original artifacts. Lighting fixtures were refurbished as well with the inclusion of reproduction fixtures where needed. The original collection of furnishings and decorative arts has been complemented with the donation of several unique pieces.

The museum provides guided tours for the public April through December each year as well as offering a full season of special tours, exhibits and events highlighting the various facets of Victorian social history and custom. Special educational programming is also offered throughout the season for groups of all ages and interests from pre-school to elder hostel. The only membership program offered is one for children in honor of the three youngsters who grew up in this family home.

In 1990 the museum also became the headquarters for a local chapter of the national organization of the Victorian Society in America, the Eloise Hunter Chapter, Victorian Society in America, named for the museum’s founder, Eloise Dexter Hunter.