specialty tours
Check below to join an upcoming specialty tour, or book a private tour with us. Private tours are available for up to 6 people at a time. Some exceptions apply.
Photo by John Woolf
Upstairs, Downstairs: Domestic Service at the Gibson House
Explore the lives of the young, Irish immigrant women who worked in domestic service in the Back Bay. On this tour, we invite you to view the Gibson House from a different perspective. We will start in the back alley and move from the working quarters through the rest of the house. Using census records, domestic advice manuals, and the architecture of the Gibson House, this tour explores the work of these women (and some men) and the community they created.
Rarely seen spaces, including the coal shed (the last surviving one in Back Bay) and the fifth-floor servant bedrooms, will be on view.
Thursday, October 14, 3:00 p.m.
$15/$12 students and seniors
Register here!
Explore the lives of the young, Irish immigrant women who worked in domestic service in the Back Bay. On this tour, we invite you to view the Gibson House from a different perspective. We will start in the back alley and move from the working quarters through the rest of the house. Using census records, domestic advice manuals, and the architecture of the Gibson House, this tour explores the work of these women (and some men) and the community they created.
Rarely seen spaces, including the coal shed (the last surviving one in Back Bay) and the fifth-floor servant bedrooms, will be on view.
Thursday, October 14, 3:00 p.m.
$15/$12 students and seniors
Register here!
Charlie Gibson’s Queer Boston
Explore the Gibson House and the gay subculture of early-twentieth-century Boston through Charlie Gibson's eyes. The story of the Museum's founder is one of legacy and family history, of the fading grandeur of Victorian-era Boston, and of Boston's LGBTQ history. Read more about Charlie here.
This tour is offered on the first Thursday of every month at 6:00 p.m.
September 2, October 7, November 4, and December 2
$15, $12 students and seniors
Register here!
Explore the Gibson House and the gay subculture of early-twentieth-century Boston through Charlie Gibson's eyes. The story of the Museum's founder is one of legacy and family history, of the fading grandeur of Victorian-era Boston, and of Boston's LGBTQ history. Read more about Charlie here.
This tour is offered on the first Thursday of every month at 6:00 p.m.
September 2, October 7, November 4, and December 2
$15, $12 students and seniors
Register here!
The World of Little Women at the Gibson House
What do Jo March, Louisa May Alcott, and Charlie Gibson have in common? They were all nineteenth-century Massachusetts writers. Learn more about the similarities--and the many differences--in their experiences on this lively tour. In addition to exploring the shared worlds of these real and imagined characters, visitors will hear behind-the-scenes details about the recent filming of Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women here at the Gibson House. The tour visits areas of the house not usually on view. Tour is one hour and involves walking up and down five flights of stairs.
Read more about Little Women at the Gibson House here. For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
What do Jo March, Louisa May Alcott, and Charlie Gibson have in common? They were all nineteenth-century Massachusetts writers. Learn more about the similarities--and the many differences--in their experiences on this lively tour. In addition to exploring the shared worlds of these real and imagined characters, visitors will hear behind-the-scenes details about the recent filming of Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women here at the Gibson House. The tour visits areas of the house not usually on view. Tour is one hour and involves walking up and down five flights of stairs.
Read more about Little Women at the Gibson House here. For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Wealth & Worldliness: The Gibson Family Paintings Collection
Join Ed Gordon, GHM Programs Director, for a tour focused on select portraits, landscapes, and copies of Old Master European paintings located on the Museum's first and second floors. How did the Gibson family collect these artworks? Why did they choose to display them as they did? Highlighting artists such as Chester Harding, William Morris Hunt, and Samuel T. Coleman, the tour dives deep into the meaning and significance of various paintings in the family's collection.
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Join Ed Gordon, GHM Programs Director, for a tour focused on select portraits, landscapes, and copies of Old Master European paintings located on the Museum's first and second floors. How did the Gibson family collect these artworks? Why did they choose to display them as they did? Highlighting artists such as Chester Harding, William Morris Hunt, and Samuel T. Coleman, the tour dives deep into the meaning and significance of various paintings in the family's collection.
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Gibson House Architecture Tour
Join preservation consultant and long-time GHM board member Jackie Blombach for an in-depth exploration of the Gibson House's distinctive architecture and innovative mechanical systems. This tour takes a closer look at the home's structural and stylistic features reflecting nineteenth-century tastes and technology. If you want to admire the ventilation shaft, or think more about how the two separate staircases were designed and used, this is the tour for you!
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Join preservation consultant and long-time GHM board member Jackie Blombach for an in-depth exploration of the Gibson House's distinctive architecture and innovative mechanical systems. This tour takes a closer look at the home's structural and stylistic features reflecting nineteenth-century tastes and technology. If you want to admire the ventilation shaft, or think more about how the two separate staircases were designed and used, this is the tour for you!
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Social Life in Boston: Vintage Edition
Did people have any fun during the Victorian era? Let us try to convince you they did! Explore nineteenth century social life through an interactive tour and connect with your group through (re-imagined) parlor games. Hear how Victorians, including the residents of the Gibson House, entertained themselves and their friends. This tour is available for groups of 4 and more.
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.
Did people have any fun during the Victorian era? Let us try to convince you they did! Explore nineteenth century social life through an interactive tour and connect with your group through (re-imagined) parlor games. Hear how Victorians, including the residents of the Gibson House, entertained themselves and their friends. This tour is available for groups of 4 and more.
For more information and to arrange a tour, contact Michelle Coughlin, Museum Administrator, at info@thegibsonhouse.org.