Reitz Home Museum

The Reitz Home Museum is a Victorian architecture museum in Evansville, Indiana, USA. As Indiana's only museum of Victorian architecture, guided tours are available all year. Silk damask-covered walls, hand-painted ceiling paintings, elaborate stucco friezes, and intricately assembled hand-made parquet floors transport the viewer back in time. There are also marbled and tiled fireplaces, stained glass windows, and gold French chandeliers. The majority of the mansion is furnished in period style. 

It has frequently appeared in Victorian Homes, Victorian Decorating and Lifestyle magazines as a fine example of French Second Empire architecture.

In 2003, he was honoured by the Victorian Society of America for his efforts in preserving and restoring a Victorian mansion.

History

John Augustus Wrights made his fortune in the lumber industry and built a mansion in the French Second Empire style in 1871. He furnished it with elegant furnishings and elaborate architecture to reflect his life's status. His eldest son Francis Joseph Wrights took over the mansion after his father died in the 1890s and completely redecorated it with Victorian interiors. After the death of the last child of the Leitz estate in 1931, the estate was left to her daughter Isabella, a member of the Catholic Church's women's organisation. The parish of Evansville purchased the mansion in 1944 for Henry J. Grimmelsman, the city's first priest. The Parish of was established in 1974.The mansion was donated by the Parish of Evansville to the Wrights House Preservation Society, a non-profit organisation dedicated to restoration and preservation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is open to the public for tours all year. The museum's current director is Matt Rowe.

PLAN A TRIP

Tours begin at the Visitor's Center, which is located behind the Reitz Home at 112 Chestnut St., Evansville, IN 47713. The tours last approximately one hour. The museum's 12 rooms are spread across two floors. Adults pay $10.00, while students pay $5.00. Children aged 12 and under are $2.00.

Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (The final tour begins at 2:30 p.m.) Sunday and Monday are closed.