G Aquino

Review of The Mark Twain House

The main parking lot was a bit difficult to find. ...

The main parking lot was a bit difficult to find. Look out for an obscure sign along Farmington Avenue between Forest and Owen streets, which points to the driveway.

The museum and the 45-minute house tour are satisfactory. There are exhibits and a short film in the museum, where I learned a great deal about the life and times of the famed author - his humble beginnings, his most important novels, and his inspiration for writing those novels. He held progressive views and was vocal about them.

The house is a short walk away and can only be visited via a guided tour. It was really dark inside and we were told that was deliberate because that's how it was when the author and his family lived there. We visited on a scorching summer day and the air-conditioning made for a comfortable and pleasant tour. No picture-taking though. And the place was crowded as there were two other groups doing the house tour.

After the house tour, we walked around the green space and chanced upon the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (we came back the next day to join a guided tour).

We ended our tour at the nice gift shop. Our entire stay lasted 2.5 hours.