These Historic Home Tours Near Philly Offer Interesting Architecture and Fascinating Stories

Schifferstadt Architectural Museum, image courtesy of Visit Frederick

For anyone fascinated by the textures of history—the curve of hand-carved wood, or the faded paint on early American walls—a trip to explore historic homes is more than just a getaway. Understanding how design was shaped by function—from how they withstood the weather and changing temperatures to how floorplans responded to daily rhythms—deepens our appreciation for history itself. When you stand in those rooms in person, you don’t just learn about history. You experience it.

That’s why exploring historic homes can be just as engaging for design enthusiasts as it is for history buffs. Whether you’re drawn to hearth cooking or Pennsylvania Dutch paintwork, it’s a chance to see how spaces were shaped to suit their time and what they can still teach us today. 

If you’re interested in that history, home design, or both, the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage, coming to Washington County on June 7, is a must-do for anyone within driving distance of the region. It offers the rare chance to peek inside private historic homes, whose owners steward their homes’ historic legacies. Maryland’s Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area’s location as a colonial crossroads and focus point for industry and immigration means it hosts excellent examples of homes shaped by German, English, and American traditions. The houses there reflect not just architectural movements but also evolving social values and economic ambitions, a layered past that’s still tangible in everything from their fireplaces to their porches. The Pilgrimage lets you come inside and experience it for yourself, and that’s why we recommend buying your ticket for the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage on June 7th.

Can’t wait till June 7th? We’re highlighting three historic sites in the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area that are open to the public (and not on this year’s tour) to help you start experiencing history right now.

Courtesy of Schifferstadt Architectural Museum

Schifferstadt Architectural Museum

Visitors to Schifferstadt don’t need a background in preservation to be impressed—what makes this site remarkable is how close it remains to its original 18th-century form. That rare integrity offers a window into domestic life in early America, unfiltered by centuries of renovation or modernization.

Built in the 1750s by the Brunner family after emigrating from Germany, the house stands as one of the oldest surviving examples of German colonial architecture in the country. Thanks to a history of “preservation by neglect,” the structure was never modernized with drywall or updated floor plans. 

“We were fortunate that the house was owned by families who did not make efforts to significantly alter or update the original features of the house. It is still very much the way it was built,”says Jennie Russell, president of the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation. 

Rented out for much of the 20th century, it escaped the aesthetic trends that transformed other homes. Today, visitors can still see the original wood floors and beams—materials that are authentically lived-in and centuries old.

Courtesy of Schifferstadt Architectural Museum

The most striking architectural feature is the five-plate stove, built into the wall between two upstairs bedrooms. Unlike the typical English fireplace, which radiated heat from one side of a room, the German-designed stove was accessed from the hallway. Coals would be pushed into the stove from outside the bedrooms, warming both spaces efficiently without spreading soot or ash indoors. It was an expensive and advanced solution at the time, and its presence suggests the Brunners’ relatively high economic standing—as well as their intent to bring familiar, sophisticated comforts from the Old World to the new frontier.

Below the main level, the vaulted cellar, dug directly into bedrock, kept food naturally cool. Adjacent to it is the summer kitchen, a separate working area used for soap-making, butchering, and preserving food without heating up the house during warmer months. The home’s practical layout illustrates how form followed necessity.

Adding to the immersion are regular hearth cooking demonstrations. On select weekends, volunteers cook over the original kitchen hearth, bringing to life the flavors, techniques, and challenges of an 18th-century kitchen. The museum also offers digital walkthroughs for less-accessible upper floors and provides guided tours on weekends from April through mid-December.

Courtesy of Union Mills Homestead

Union Mills Homestead

If Schifferstadt offers a glimpse of early settlement, Union Mills illustrates the architectural imprint of economic ambition and regional influence. Built in 1797 by brothers David and Andrew Shriver, this evolving estate reflects how west-central Maryland became a corridor of industry and political activity in the 19th century.

“The homestead started as a four-room house,” Kyle Dalton, executive director of Union Mills, explained, “and eventually started encompassing other structures around it.”

The structure grew into a 23-room mansion as the family’s enterprises expanded. The home absorbed outbuildings like kitchen houses and smokehouses into a Z-shaped layout that stretches asymmetrically across the property. Each addition was a response to economic success, and each remains visible, offering a tangible timeline of development through structure alone.

The house wasn’t just a home. It was a functioning business hub, serving as a tavern, post office, courthouse, and grist mill headquarters at various points in its history. Visitors can still see the layered use of the space. One room, originally used for receiving mail, later housed a music room and then a child’s playroom. Today, these traces coexist, telling overlapping stories of how rooms adapted to shifting needs.

Courtesy of Union Mills Homestead

Of the 23 rooms, 13 are open to the public—each chosen for its narrative richness and architectural character. Among the most resonant is the Lewis Shriver Room, restored with meticulous attention to a photograph taken by its occupant in the early 1900s. The original mirror, camera, and furniture remain, allowing guests to literally step into a picture of the past.

“We were able to reconstruct that because he was an avid photographer and took a selfie in 1904,” he said. “With the original mirror, the original camera, and the original print of the photograph, we were able to reconstruct the rest of the room around that.”

Nearly every piece of furniture in the house belonged to the Shriver family. With diaries, ledgers, and receipts still intact, the home offers a remarkably personal archive of six generations. Some changes reflect the aesthetics of the moment; others reflect emotional needs, like the parlor window enlarged so that a bedridden family member could see the garden.

The homestead is open from May through October and by appointment. 

Courtesy of City of Hagerstown, Hager House

Jonathan Hager House

The Hager House holds historical weight not just for its architecture, but for its role in shaping the region. Built around 1740 by Jonathan Hager—a German immigrant, gunsmith, fur trader, and namesake founder of Hagerstown—the home was one of the first substantial residences in what was then the western frontier of Maryland. Its design reflects the ambitions and anxieties of frontier life.

The 22-inch-thick limestone walls offer clear evidence of defensive intentions, but the home’s interior reveals surprising sophistication. At the heart of the design is a central chimney, typical of German construction, which serves four surrounding rooms. Unlike English layouts that placed fireplaces on exterior walls, this arrangement ensured that heat radiated efficiently throughout the home—a critical advantage during cold Maryland winters.

The interior, interpreted today as a mid-18th-century farmhouse, is filled with furnishings sourced from the broader region. 

Courtesy of City of Hagerstown, Hager House

“The goal was… to find pieces that were either from the Shenandoah Valley or, you know, southern Pennsylvania or Western Maryland… that would reflect local art or cabinet designs,” curator Kay Osmer says.

While not original to the Hager family, they reflect the cultural influences of the time: blanket chests, painted cupboards, and pottery characteristic of Pennsylvania Dutch artisanship. Many pieces are decorated with floral carvings or slipware patterns—subtle but powerful expressions of regional identity and craftsmanship. The distinctive blue and marigold wall colors, chosen during a 1950s restoration, were intended to reflect colonial color schemes and add yet another historical layer to this remarkable site.

Tours of the home highlight the building’s features and stories, from the practical to the whimsical. Among the latter is a mid-19th-century newel post carved in the shape of a stout man, affectionately known to docents as “Alfred.” The light-hearted touch underscores how even utilitarian objects could carry personality.

In the basement, two natural springs still flow. These indoor water sources once supplied the household with drinking water and kept perishables cool—a rare and advanced feature for the period. Combined with the carved woodwork and thick masonry, they make for a tour rich in both detail and atmosphere.

The Hager House is open seasonally April through October operated by the City of Hagerstown Fridays and Saturdays, with special events varying monthly.