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Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion

1 Reviews

The Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion is Philadelphia's only authentically restored Victorian house museum and garden. The Mansion is located in the Tulpehocken Station Historic District which is on the National Register of Historic Places as one of America's first railroad suburbs.

Events hosted by the Mansion draw individuals from all socio-economic and racial groups. The annual Old Fashioned Picnic, intended as a community outreach, attracts families from the immediate Germantown neighborhood. The yearly Murder Mystery draws people from Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs as well as groups who travel from New York City every year to solve this who-done-it. The Dickens' Christmas Party has become an annual family event for many Philadelphians. Actors portraying Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott and the Ghost of Christmas Present read selections from Christmas stories to captivated audiences. In 2012, the Mansion introduced Victorian Theater; the first premiere was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet.

The Mansion also hosts a series of Victorian workshops which educate the public about crafts popularized during the Victorian Era. Workshops in the near past have included:

  • Faux finishing workshop
  • Silk ribbon embroidery workshop
  • Crazy quilting workshop
  • Victorian watercolor workshop

These workshops attract all sectors of society, ethnicities and ages. Tea and cookies are served.

Additionally, the Mansion hosts speakers on topics pertinent to the Victorian Era. In May 2010 the Mansion presented The Irish Bridget: Immigrant Women Domestic Servants in the U.S., 1840-1930 an illustrated talk by Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan. The Maxwell family emplyed three Irish maids so the lecture was relevant to the museum's history.

Mission Statement

To preserve the Mansion and the story of its inhabitants as examples of Philadelphia's emerging middle class from 1850 to 1880 and to encourage the study of Victorian-era culture at the time of the American Industrial Revoution and the Civil War.


The Details

(40.038,-75.184)
 
  • Address
    200 West Tulpehocken StreetPhiladelphia, PA 19144
  • Contact
    • Diane Richardson
  • Phone
    • 215-438-1861
  • Fax
    • 215-438-0133
  • Website
  • Interest Area
    • Arts & Culture

Average Review 1 reviews

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by Jennifer H. (May 5, 2012)
Absolutely LOVE the Mansion! It exceeds the typical coolness of Historic houses, for SO MANY Reasons... First off, it was built in the Victorian Era—by one of the NEWLY FORMING middle-class; the exterior is Fabulous—Victorian Gothic made with local Wissahickon Schist; the interior is equally Fabulous—extraordinarily middle-class-Victorian, in all its outrageousness. Additionally, the Victorian time period was AMAZING — including the (second) Industrial Revolution, people leaving the farm for the city, income from jobs to buy 'things'—leading to more factories, more jobs, larger cities... (Definitely the beginnings of materialism). P.S. Did I mention that this is the time period of the Impressionists, the Arts & Crafts movement, and the beginnings of Art Nouveau.... I Love the Mansion so much that I voluntarily created their Facebook presence, joined the board, and spend every Saturday there, helping the FABULOUS Executive Director with anything she needs.
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