Group Tours at Quincy House (1770)

Update Our ticketing, donations, and membership sales portal is down for scheduled maintenance on the afternoon of 4/11.

A country house for a revolutionary family

A National Historic Landmark

This country estate overlooking Quincy Bay transports visitors to the Revolutionary War era. It also tells the story of a woman’s work to preserve her family’s history more than a hundred years later. Revolutionary leader Josiah Quincy built Quincy House in 1770. During the months leading up to the war, he observed troop movements from its monitor, a half-story space above the roof with windows on all sides.

Quincy and his family played key roles in the social and political life of Massachusetts for generations. In the early 1880s Eliza Susan Quincy made it her life’s work to document the historic significance of her family’s home. She kept journals, inventoried the contents of the house, commissioned photographs of the interior, and persuaded relatives to return heirlooms so that the house could become a repository of Quincy family history.

Location:
20 Muirhead Street, Quincy, Mass.
617-994-5930

Hours of Operation:

June 1 to October 15, first and third Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
All group tours must be scheduled by appointment. In addition to open days, group tours may be scheduled at times the museum is closed to the public.

Specialty Tours

We are happy to work with you to customize your experience.

Guided House Tour: Enjoy an approximately one-hour guided tour; please allow one and a half hours for your visit.
Asian Art at Quincy House: Asian art and culture has long captured the western imagination. Beginning with the China Trade in the late eighteenth century and continuing through the nineteenth-century Victorian fascination, the Quincy family amassed an impressive collection of Asian and Asian-inspired artwork and luxury goods.

A Revolutionary Family: Quincy House was built in 1770, the same year that five Bostonians died in the Boston Massacre, an event that moved the Massachusetts Bay colony toward Revolution. Josiah Quincy’s sons, Samuel and Josiah Jr., found themselves on opposite sides of the Boston Massacre trial. Historic New England shares this dramatic story and more of the Quincy’s family activities during the American Revolution. This special tour of Quincy House brings the Revolution to life and personalizes history by using the spaces, objects, and words of Quincy family members themselves.

Tour Details

Up to 12 visitors can tour the house with each guide; generally we can accommodate up to 24 visitors in the house in one hour. Accommodations can be made for larger groups.
Please note that the tour requires a considerable amount of standing and climbing stairs. If members of your group need special assistance, please let the museum know in advance.

Cost:

Guided House Tour: $9 per adult for groups of 8 or more visitors. Additional rates apply for all other tours. Prices subject to change.
Receptive tour operator rates available upon request.
Tour leader and bus driver are welcome to a complimentary tour with the group.
A non-refundable deposit based on your maximum number is due upon booking. The outstanding balance must be paid when the group arrives on-site for the tour.
Please call two weeks in advance to confirm a guaranteed number of visitors.

Nearby Attractions:

Explore Quincy with its wealth of museums, historic sites, and restaurants. Visit Discover Quincy for ideas, recommendations and events around town.
Visit other Historic New England properties nearby. Package discounts available.
- Otis House, Boston – the last surviving mansion in Bowdoin Square in Boston’s West End neighborhood. Charles Bulfinch designed the house for Harrison Gray Otis, a lawyer who was instrumental in developing nearby Beacon Hill, served in Congress, and was a mayor of Boston.
- Lyman Estate and Greenhouses, Waltham – The Lyman Estate, also known as “the Vale,” is one of the finest examples in the United States of a country estate following the principles of eighteenth-century English naturalistic design. The Lyman Estate was the warm-weather retreat for four generations of the Lyman family. In 1793, shipping merchant Theodore Lyman commissioned famed architect Samuel McIntire to design and build a Federal-style house. The family enlarged the house in 1882 in the Victorian style and then remodeled it in the Colonial Revival style in 1917. The thirty-seven acre property includes beautifully preserved gardens and historic greenhouses. The Lyman Estate Greenhouses are among the oldest surviving greenhouses in the United States. The complex of four greenhouses consists of an 1804 grape house, 1820 camellia house, 1840 orchid house, and a 1930 sales greenhouse where visitors can purchase plants to take home.

Amenities:

One restroom is located in the house (not wheelchair accessible).
Ample on-street parking is available on Muirhead Street for cars. Buses must approach and unload on Gould Street.

Please Remember: