What Happened to Mark Twain's House?
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- He was known as the “Greatest Humorist the United States Has Produced,” But how did he live? Today we are exploring the home of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.
Location: Hartford, Connecticut.
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Photos from: Library of Congress
Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress
CC2.0 Photos from: bootbearwdc, dwhartwig, Joey Hoey, Mike Shell
CC3.0 Photos from: Kenneth C Zirkle, DTParker1000
Music from: Epidemic Sound
Video from: Envato
I’m so glad to know the home is still standing and well preserved.
@R Voit wtf 😒. That's crazy smh
to be honest, this video confused me since I live close to Virginia City in NV and we have no idea where his house there used to be as it has been lost. Then I realized this was for a different house of his.
@rvoit Thanks for letting us know, but so sad to hear that. I wonder if there is someone that could be contacted regarding taking better care against the vandalism you spoke of.
@rvoit Man…. that is such a shame.
@R Voit Hartford is a ghetto now. If it wasn’t for Aetna being there that area would be a total 💩 hole. Remember, SIMPLE MINDS DO SIMPLE THINGS.
I was so mad about Twain as a child, I had my parents take us to Hannibal to see his boyhood home. It was wonderful & one of my childhood delights.
At first I was wondering why you were angry with Mark Twain as a child but then my wife reminded me that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. Have a great day.
A family trip to Hannibal is one of my favorite memories!
I was born and raised there, it's a shame how it's just rotting basically, only caring about the very small mark twain tourism and the cave, the city has lost so much
My Wife and I visited this home several years ago. We have visited many notable homes, Mr. Twain's home is by far my favorite.
A guy's house with comforts for the Ladies. The craftsmanship is amazing, well worth the visit.
I've been to the Mark Twain House multiple time. If you are ever visiting CT you should put this place on your list to visit. It is a beautiful home and they do a wonderful job with preserving the home.
This is one of my most favorite houses! Love it and the "Stick Style".
Just this past July, I was able to tour the Mark Twain house.. .Absolutely Stunning. Thanks so much for showcasing this one. The entire complex, along with a great gift shop, is definitely worth the trip!
Writing as a Hartford historian who, over several decades, has often visited and attended functions at this marvelously maintained house-museum, I am delighted to discover it featured in your This House series. The house was one of several homes of Hartford literati, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Dudley Warner, and Joseph R. Hawley, clustered around Forest Street, and called collectively Nook Farm. Sadly, some of these grand homes are gone; but the somewhat less elegant Stowe House remains and is open for visitation as a house-museum. Perhaps it might be the subject for another episode in your delightfully informative series.
I'd love to see the Stowe house. Her book Uncle Tom's Cabin is my all-time favorite book!! I've read it multiple times and it gets me every time.
@@kimberlyearly8918 I do hope you get to tour the Stowe House; I'm sure you will enjoy it. Several years ago, I had the privilege and pleasure of conducting a workshop for its tour guides. They are knowledgeable and gracious, and will give you a good tour.
I share your love for Uncle Tom's Cabin. I first read it in junior high school, again in high school and college: always deeply moved by it's literaryy power and pathos. At the height of my collecting career, I owned two first edition sets, together with copies of the Key ( incl. one in French), a French 1852 dramatization, the first British periodical publication, etc. As I approached 80, I decided to give the entire collection to the Hartford History Center (Hartford Public Library), where they would be cared for and where anyone interested might enjoy them, as I have over the years.
Do come to Hartford and visit the Stowe house. Also: do you know Joan Hedrick's bio of HBS? It's heavy reading, but well worth the effort. Happy holidays!
@@garywait3231 I've never heard of Joan Hendricks but would love to get a copy of the book. I have a copy that has a handwritten note of a teacher to her student and the date is 1903. It's very fragile. I just ordered the key last night. I've never read it. I think I had heard a long time ago there was one but just forgot about it. I can't wait to get it. I asked my husband if we could please go one day. She lived in two different houses. I'd wanna go to the one where she actually wrote the book first then the other. My husband has absolutely no interest in historical things but he always finds a museum interesting once we get there. Happy holidays!
@@kimberlyearly8918 : I hope you find the Key interesting. It embraces documentation from Southern sources to back up all that she had written about slavery its social and economic impact in UTC.
Your desire to visit the house where Mrs. Stowe wrote UTC will take you to Brunswick, Maine. The Stowes were living there while Calvin was teaching at nearby Bowdoin College.
She occupied the Hartford house for only the last quarter century of her life. A visit there is poignantly bitter-sweet, as it represents a time of mental decline. Nonetheless it does preserve a flavor for her last years and the home and neighborhood in which she spent them.
Best wishes for your HBS pilgrimage.
@@garywait3231 Thanks for letting me know which home she was in when she wrote. I guess the biography told about her mental decline. I'll have to see about getting a copy. Thanks! God bless!
That's awesome to keep a very important author & his beautiful family home up and & a part of American History.
This house is incredible! So many details and I wish I could get an even better look at them. Even the roof looks so unique. All of the hand stenciling and decorative patterns on the outside were amazing. I think this might be my favorite house you've ever shown!
I've been through that house many times. It's spectactular and I see something new every time I visit that I didn't see before and learn new stories of Clemons time there as well. One of my favorite parts is actually the little phone booth discretely tucked away. It had an old fashioned phone and if you picked it up you could hear Mark Twain's voice say, "I'd like to wish a Merry Christmas to all... except the s.o.b. that invented the phone". Mark Twain didn't like the phone much and viewed it as a distraction that would interrupt him and his writing. There's also the story of how Mark Twain, if he had a button come off one of his shirts, he'd often throw it out the upstairs window where it would get stuck in the branches of a tree not far from the window and ultimately a servant would have to climb the tree to retrieve it. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemons) was a very unique character.
What a beautiful home Twain had built . It saddens me greatly when lovely historical homes are unoccupied and left to fall into disrepair or worse vandalism!! But fortunately Twains home found a group to lovingly restore it and open as a museum . So many of these beautiful homes are demolished a crying shame😂😢😢 A bother wonderful This House Bravo!! Love that I subscibe to a worth while topic about beautiful mansions ❤❤
sadly, many local governmental authorities in the US don 't hold much store in preserving historical homes & architectural treasures. They prefer selling out to big land developers that mow everything down for strip malls, parking lots or condominiums. Even Historical societies have a hard time saving places that deserve saving. Greed for money often wins out over historical preservation.
Like Michael Jackson home☹️
I loved the guest bedroom, and the light fitting at the bottom of the staircase.
I am so glad this wonderful building has been saved from a wrecking ball. It's absolutely stunning.
I loved reading his books as a kid, Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 🙂
My father-in-law's parents bought the house from the Clemens, f-i-l was born in the billiards room! It was sold to a private school, Kingswood-Oxford, and later was sold again before the restoration. We have a pic of him, mother, siblings in the conservatory. If you like the stately CT houses, Hill-stead Museum in Farmington is a must see. It was the home of the architect Theodate Pope Riddle, and is amazing.
How awesome. I watched the Ken Burns documentary years ago, did the pipe (intercom) still work.
Who was born in the billiards room? I was a tour guide in the 1970s. I realize now that The eclectic style of the house deeply affected me when I was I finally furnished a place of my own in NYC. I was sorry that the video did not really. mention his other two daughters, one of whom I believe died at 16. It tore her father’s heart out. He never recovered. I learned a lot about Clemens from this video .
It is astonishing that he was totally self educated,; that and his adventures also supported a way for his genius to express itself in the literature he created. I’m happy that the writer of the video referred to him as America’s greatest humorist. That he is still adored by many. Thank for making this charming and informative video , sincerely Janice Lee
What’s a ct house
@@JameGoFast Connecticut, the state. There are a lot of beautiful houses in CT. Unfortunately, Mark Twain’s Hartford house is right next to a slum. Hartford was a beautiful city at the turn of the century. It’s a complete cesspool of filth, breaks my heart. Some of the old architecture is stunning.
@@janicelee9923 none died at age 16. Suzy 1872-1896 age 24 died from meningitis. Clara 1874-1962. age 88 old age. Jean 1880-1909 age 29 Epilepsy.
He also had one of the first phones in CT. In the foyer of the home was a phone booth, basically a wood paneled closet with the phone on the wall, as I recall. This was from a field trip 45 years ago.
M6 wife and I visited the house while on vacation several years ago. We took the guided tour. Your video does justice to the magnificence of the structure and the innovations in it. My favorite room was the billiard room. In one corner was a table, the table at which lemons wrote some of his iconic works. That awed me to see the place where Clemens created literary history. I grew up in the southern tip of Iowa. Hannibal, Missouri was just down river from m6 home town. My father worked for the railroad. On a drive with the family we stopped at the old freight station (now gone). We walked maybe a hundred yards up the street and there was Clemens little two story house. Years later when the station was torn down, my father was able to acquire two copper lanterns that hung over the sidewalk near the street. It is believed that Clemens stood under those lamps at night talking to the people and watching the river boats near by.
So glad they could preserve this home. I love the geometric ceiling in the entryway and the library not to mention the splendour of the jungle conservatory.
The entryway is quite spectacular.
This is one house that I like every room and how its comfortable without being over stated! Even the outside does remind you in some ways of the river boats like you said! So glad its preserved! I waited with baited breath because I feared it might have been lost! So glad it survives!
It is a treasure well worth visiting if you are ever in the area. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing it! Cheers!
@@ThisHouse how did the daughter die?
I saw it this summer, and disagree with your comment about it not being over stated. Even the foyer after you enter the house is ornate. In typically Victorian fashion, the house is filled with lots of stuff. I really enjoyed touring the house, but couldn't have lived there. I would love to have that library.
The craftsmanship is so exquisite! I hope this treasure is well protected.
Your use of old photos to show the interior made me believe the house is no longer standing, so I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the video to discover it's still around and well maintained!
The twisted columns upstairs were stunning. Wow, Just Wow.
Just found your channel, good content and presentation.
I used to live a 5-minute walk from this house, and went there twice for a tour. Your tour was as good as, or perhaps better than, than the commentary offered when actually there.
Like many, the billiards room was my favorite. Decades ago I helped with a local NPR broadcast from there where Garrison Keillor shot pool with local Connecticut NPR hosts and opined about Twain and American literature.
Grew up in the area and have been inside this architectural treasure! Grateful it is still there. Hope to visit it again. ❤Mark Twain and ❤ this video tour 👏
Nothing happened to Mark Twain's home in Hartford. It's still there for all to see and visit inside. His nextdoor neighbor was Harriet Beecher Stowe, and her home is also open to the public. I plan to visit both again sometimes in the next 2 years, God willing.
@R Voit Really? Even the mortgage to a doll's house would be more than the entrance fee to Twain's house.
I want to go back, and don't care how much it cost to tour through it. It's just so incredibly fabulous and full of history, not to mention that it sits next to Harriet Beecher Stowe's home seeming to look over the city of Hartford which is built up around it.
I was privileged to see this home when I lived out East. The home was exquisite as was the delightful tour guide that took us through.
That's the most beautiful home I have ever seen ❤️
Love to visit this lovely home ..
Back in the early 1970s we went there on a school trip. If you look at the Dining room fireplace, there is a window above it. Mark Twain wanted to look outside when he was eating but being over a fireplace people thought that impossible. Hence the architect put the chimney flues on both sides of the window to get the effect. People during his time thought that to me a modern marvel. You have to look closely to see that it is a window and not a mirror in the photo.
WOW! I HOPE I AM ABLE TO VISIT THIS SPLENDID ICONIC STRUCTURE ONE DAY.
The library❤️
The narrative or written copy of this video make it a favorite from THIS HOUSE.
I love the conservatory and the porches. Beautiful house!
Since reading the tales of Tom & Huck I have often thought how deftly Twain handled the scathing question of race. I feel he was a sublime subversive.
The conservatory. I could live in that room all day and never get tired of it.
Thank you for this video. I remember visiting this house on field trips when I was young. It was always my favorite field trip!😊
I LIKE the whole ensemble and am grateful that it is all so well restored.😍 It is a wonderful representation of its time and the craftsmanship that could be purchased by discerning wealthy people.
Just beautiful ❤
What a gorgeous home!
The guest room was my favorite. It had so much light and looked airy.
Thank you so much for posting. I loves the conservatory the best but all the rooms were beautiful.
This home is beautiful. It seems like a peaceful and comfortable home. It is lovely. The inside is magnificent. ❤️🌹❤️
Enjoyed visiting there.
thanks for the history of the house
I love that fireplace and bookcase mantle. He and his wife snared the same bed, unusual for the time. Two daughters. Several bathrooms and closets, also unusual for the times. A happy family.
This is wonderful- thank you for sharing..
What a beautiful home.
One of the best channels on RUclips!
The house tour in Hartford Connecticut is worth the travel!
Great video. My dad is buried in the same cemetery as he was in Elmira, NY.
It’s good to know it’s open now everyday!
What a magical home to grow up in.
I hope to see this home in person one day. I love Mark Twain!
Good video. Thank You, This House.
Thank you sir for the video. Mark Twain is My favorite author and Human being. Watching from the Philippines and sharing with everyone I know.
Thanks for creating this video. It’s the first time Ive seen the interior in anything other than photos. My gt gt grandfather Fritz Schweppe did the interior decorating in the schoolroom or nursery and I think the childrens bedrooms.
Thank you so much for your wonderful video on this beautiful, yet unusual home. For a second there I thought you were going to tell us it was torn down in the Great Depression, but thankfully it is still with us. I worked at Taliesin West, in North Scottsdale, Arizona for over two years, and over four in total for the FLW Foundation. It had a spirit and solitude that soaked into your soul if you worked there at the time of day and night when the visitors were not there. It had an abundance of wildlife, including deer, bobcats, cougars, javelina, pack rats, and a plethora of venomous snakes that got into every room in FLW's Winter Camp. When that camp was built starting in the 1930s, the Apprentices and the Wrights lived in tents miles from anything, and the Wrights concrete and canvas tent/abode is still there. He built it as a ship on the vast ocean on the desert, with a prow, promenade deck, theatres, dining hall and kitchen. When you looked out from the prow and promenade deck you would see the vast ocean waves made from long lines of creosote bushes, in the distance below, and the horizon was studded with islands in the form of Papago Hills to the south. Let me put it this way, as an artist it changed me from the first instant i beheld it in person, to the last time i walked its grounds, it was magic. FLW taught me a tremendous amount about his esthetic, Japanese art, silk prints, and gold glistening in the back of a darkened room when it was alighted by a flicker of light. Thanks, and I will be back
I enjoyed touring many of the homes FLW designed, including both Taliesin and Taliesin West. I can't imagine what FLW would have said about Twain's house - really the opposite of his aesthetics. He might have suggested tearing it down.
this is on my list to see !!! This house is amazing looking! i like every room but the Jungle is my fav
Mark is great a legend two our great country. Much respect for mark Twain. Made a lasting impact on the world. 🇺🇸✝️
I grew up just south of Hartford and have been to the home several times. It's definitely worth the trip if you are in the area. Harriet Beecher Stowe's house is nearby (next door, I believe). The State Capitol building is not too far and is the most beautiful in the country (😉 maybe I am playing favorites). Just to the south, Old Wethersfield has the Samuel Webb, Isaac Stevens & Silas Deane houses (George Washington slept in the Stevens House). Nearby is the Silas W Robbins house bed & breakfast - a beautifully restored second empire home (Ken, I'd love to see a piece on the if you haven't) The Buttolph Williams home (1711) is around the corner from the B& B. And within 30-40 miles you can see Gillette Castle (Ken has a video on this one), the Goodspeed Opera House, The Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol, CT and, in Rocky Hill, the Eliel Williams House (1769) that my folks bought in 1984 and restored over 30 years. Williams was a sea captain and is buried in the Center cemetery nearby. Just to sneak that in. There are 100 things I'm forgetting, but I should already apologize for the long post.
Wondering if Williams the sea captain or Eliel were related to Roger Williams founder of Rhode Island.
I've read everything written by Mark Twain that I could get my hands on. I especially enjoy his humor. My wife and I toured the house some years ago. The tour guide had several interesting stories which seemed in keeping with Twain's humor - apparently Hartford was at the time a noted cultural center and the Twain house is on what had been the most prestigious street. Rather than having the cloths lines (for drying cloths) behind the house, he had them in front clearly visible to passers by. There is also a rather large museum on the property with many of his humorous and wry comments displayed on the walls.
Many of the comments on the wall of the Museum Center and on many of the items in the gift shop were hysterical! Twain's wry sense of humor aged well indeed.
Mark Twain has always been one favorite writers. I have one of his books of different quotes that he has made.
Love "the Jungle". Beautiful home.
Stunningly beautiful. A house most suited to a gentleman of his talent and character.
I love the guest room!
A well told and structured audio and visual narrative.
The quote,”The ornaments of a house is the friends who frequent it” reminds me of how ancient Greeks used to bat the mint near their door so that when friends came to visit they would be welcomed by the fragrance of mint.
I saw this particular house owned by Mark Twain and his wife, in a series of photos on Pinterest, and I found them very interesting and fascinating to look at. This video taught me a lot about Mark Twain and his wife, and the house that they lived in. Thank you again. 😊
I’ve visited the house, it’s beautiful.
I live in Connecticut and we've toured the home several times.
It's beautiful inside and out.
There's a museum built next door.
A must see attraction if in connecticut.
Stowe home next door
I live about an hour from the home and have visited it twice. As I have read and enjoyed most of Twain's books, it is very moving to visit and I recommend it to any Twain fan. In Hartford CT
Love that porch!
As a youngster living in CT, I recall visiting this house twice... once with my family, and once in a grade school field trip. Really enjoyed both tr
What a beautiful home 👍🦀
I love your videos and become fascinated with the amount of information you provide,Thomas Edison home MenlonPark New Jersey
Before it and I are gone, I hope to visit Mark Twain's home. It definitely has the look and feel of the love he and his family shared together there.
Good episode. It makes it even more interesting when the owners are people I know. Alright I didn't know him personally, but you know what I mean.
Very in depth and a lot of hard work went into this video
Wow! Beyond Amazing! I have always admired Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens watching numerous documentary films, reading about his life, yet never reading his books. Now I will and to understand his beautiful home is still here I will plan to visit someday in the future. His beautiful Angel fish (Lilly). Thank you so much for posting this home of Mark Twain.
Joel Mosier/J.Terran Author of ANCIENT MYSTERIES REVEALED.
As a former historical interpreter for the MTH House as we called it I have many happy memories of leading tours there and the great staff I worked with their for several years.
Visited this home in 8th grade. Place was cool. There was hidden rooms and entrances throughout. The printing press he purchased was also on display .
Funny I never had a clue to where MT lived. I would have guessed somewhere along the Mississippi. You learn something new everyday.
He lived in many places. I think he only lived in Hartford for a few years. It's kind of like "George Washington slept here".
Sharing a bedroom was not rare for the time. People keep saying that but most couples actually shared a bedroom. It was the SUPER wealthy that had separate sleeping room. Also, indoor plumbing wasn't incredibly rare by 1870s. Most middle class homes started to incorporate plumbing. it was a new technology that people started to connect to.
I’ve visited his CT home a number of times. I bought a tee-shirt at the gift shop that says, “if man was to be crossed with a cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.”
Wonderful video and the house is stunning!! Glad it was restored....too beautiful to leave to Ruins!
Thank you, i visited Mark Twain House a few years ago. it is as beautiful and unique as the pictures indicate. Next door to the house is the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, nice neighborhood.. 👍👍
I love that house. Lots of porches high and low.
I used to exclaim over houses I loved, and I was always told they were carpenter's houses.
I asked why they were called that, and I was told carpenters built them.
Weren't all houses built by carpenters? I guessed it meant carpenters going wild building their own houses, when clients usually didn't want to pay for so much work on their houses.
They said when she was sick, Suzy heard the trains going by on the nearby tracks, and she would say: "The trains come up and the trains go down for Mark Twain."
Imagine her thinking of the world and her father's penname like that while she was dying.
He believed she had inherited his humorous outlook and talent.
Samuel Clements ever made his way down to Australia. How wonderful to be one of the first international celebrities.
Happy it's a museum so everyone can enjoy
Thank you for the history and great photos you compiled.
To me the front room with the salmon and gold leaf stenciled print. The room was light and airy!
What a gorgeous house! I would love to see it one day!
I went there in 7th grade 1968. Also toured his neighbors house too. Harriet Beecher Stowe house. Years later I had the honor of giving the docents from Mark Twain house a tour of Wistariahurst in my hometown.
How beautiful. Thank you. 11:12
I hope to go see it someday! 😊
Visited in 2014, amazing experience. Went for the last tour of the day. My companion and I were the only people taking that tour, so it ended up being a wonderful private tour in which we were afforded some privilege beyond what was normal. It is now a great memory that I share with others as often as is appropriate.
Wonderful design! The variety of different elements blended harmoniously as seen from the front (?) 8:56 make it one of my favorites.
i'm relieved to find out that it's been preserved & made into a museum that everyone can enjoy
What a terrific video.
My favorite is the billiard room. I built a billiard room in my garage that was inspired by it - complete with a restored table that was made in 1890.
The black and white video doesn't do this beautiful home justice. This is a home full of color and lovely details set in wooded green setting. Samuel Clemens had an early telephone and he has telephone cabinet in his entry hall.