We visited this home in early July 1996. All the pics are "thumbnails" which you can click on to greatly enlarge.
The Mark Twain House
Entrance.jpg 65 Kb Samuel Clemens bought some land outside Hartford, Connecticut in 1873. The home was designed to take advantage of the natural landscape and views. It now sits in a somewhat busy neighborhood.	Outside.jpg 36 Kb A spectacular shot of the main facade... "sticks and brick." Designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter, it was mostly built in 1874 and added on to in 1881.		Brickwork.jpg 14.52 Kb Very ornate brickwork is everywhere. Many of the bricks are painted forming a variety of patterns. Inside, the detailing is equally fine… doorknobs, trims, all of it.	FirstFloor.jpg 18.78 Kb Floorplan to orient for the next row of photos take a look at this (once loaded you can come back here and it should come up rather quickly). The odd shaped "hook-like" wing was added later as servants quarters.
FoyerStairs.jpg 48 Kb The most amazing carved wooden foyer/entrance one will see (the front door is off the picture to the left, and the drawing room is behind the camera). The stairs wind up 3 stories.	DrawingRoom.jpg 26 Kb The large mirror was a wedding gift and was brought from their earlier home in Buffalo. Most furnishings are original.		DiningRoom.jpg 20 Kb The dining room has rich, embossed paper and walnut paneling. The glasswork around the fireplace (not seen here) was designed by Tiffany.	Library1.jpg 74 Kb The most spectacular room in the house, and opens onto a glorious conservatory. It's a big download, but scroll around and look at the detail. Behind the camera is the next library picture below.
Library2.jpg 46 Kb A huge carved mantle piece imported from Scotland and adapted to fit this room.	SecondFloor.jpg 13.80 Kb There are many rooms up here… only one in the next photograph. Not included here are the "school room," nursery and another bedroom for the mother-in-law.		MasterBedroom.jpg 24 Kb The master bedroom with huge carved bed. It is roughly over the entrance and has a line from the gas lamp to a remote bed light!	BilliardRoom.jpg 23 Kb The billiard room is on the 3rd floor (but I can't find the floorplan of the top level); it is also a bit of a den. There are two balconies.
One is not allowed to take photographs inside the house. These are from a souvenir book. Are they legal? Probably not. Make a point to visit the place if you are ever through central Connecticut. It takes just an hour or two to see everything. I recently discovered an official site for this house at http://www.marktwainhouse.org/. Check it out! [March 2001]
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