TOUR DETAILS
Tours of James Garfield’s home in Mentor, Ohio, are given multiple times each day that James A. Garfield National Historic Site is open. A tour is the only way to see the inside of the house. There is no fee, but you do have to sign up in the Visitor Center because only a limited number of people are allowed inside the house at one time. Tickets are taken on a first come, first served basis.
There is no set tour schedule, as the number of visitors often determines the frequency of tours. However, they are held often enough that if you just show up at the park, you won’t have to wait too long to get on the next tour. In the meantime, you can watch a film about Garfield, browse the exhibits in the Visitor Center museum, and walk the grounds of Garfield’s farm, Lawnfield. Just be aware that the last tour is at 3 PM, so don’t show up after that expecting to see the house. If you want an exact schedule, you must call the Visitor Center the day before or day of your visit: (440) 255-8722.

Exhibits at the Garfield Museum inside the Visitor Center at James A. Garfield National Historic Site
The House Tour takes about an hour. There is a museum at the end that could take up an additional 30 minutes of your time if you want to read through all the information. This is a different museum with different topics than the one in the Visitor Center.
GARFIELD HOUSE HISTORY
James and Lucretia Garfield purchased the 118-acre Dickey Family farm in Mentor, Ohio, in 1876, which included a one-and-a-half-story dwelling with nine rooms built around 1831. They then purchased another 40 acres of land the following year. The farm was dubbed Lawnfield by the reporters who covered Garfield’s Front Porch Campaign for president in the summer and fall of 1880.
At the time the family moved to Mentor, James and Lucretia had five children, plus Garfield’s mother lived with them. In 1879, Lucretia’s mother died, and her father moved in and helped manage the farm, making the household now nine people. This prompted Garfield to enlarge the house in 1880, which included expanding the overall footprint and raising the roof to create a full second floor with a third floor attic, more than doubling the square footage of the original Dickey House. (For simplicity’s sake, this renovation will be referred to hereinafter as the 1880 House).
When Garfield left Mentor for his March 4, 1881, inauguration in Washington (this is when inaugurations were held until 1937), he never saw his home again. He was shot on July 2nd and died later that year on September 19th. Because Mary Lincoln had many financial troubles after Abraham Lincoln was killed, the media pushed for public donations to help Lucretia take care of her family and home. Approximately $350,000 was raised, and with part of this money she renovated the house and grounds of the farm in 1885 and 1886. The renovation involved adding gas lighting and gas fireplaces, building a third floor on the main house, and building a three-story addition at the back of the house, which is an entire house itself. (For simplicity’s sake, this renovation and addition will be referred to hereinafter as the 1886 House).
The second floor of the 1886 House is where the James A. Garfield Memorial Library is located. This is a library Lucretia created to preserve her husband’s books and writings. The bottom floor of the building had a kitchen, laundry room, pantry, butler pantry, and a storage area. The top floor had rooms for servants.
The photo below is a view of the east side of the house (the front with the main porch faces south). The 1880 House is the section with the gray wood siding. The 1886 House is the stone section.
The photo below is a view of the north side of the house, with the 1886 House on the left (includes the left and center chimney) and the 1880 House on the right, recessed from the rear addition. The porch (right) was added in the 1885-86 renovation.
Only eight acres of Lawnfield remain today as part of James A. Garfield National Historic Site. Half of the property was sold by Lucretia in the years after her husband’s assassination, and the rest was sold by the Garfield children (Lucretia died in 1918). The eight acres that remained in the family by the 1930s, which included the main house and a few outbuildings, were donated to the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) in 1936. The WRHS operated the house as a public museum starting that same year.
When Congress authorized the creation of James A. Garfield National Historic Site in 1980, part of the legislation allowed the National Park Service to partner with the WRHS, which still owned the property. The WRHS was directly responsible for the maintenance and operation of the park and for providing visitor services. In 1984, the National Park Service took over ownership of the entire farm by purchase and donation (buildings and land only), while the WRHS continued to operate the park. This agreement expired in 2008, and the WRHS is now no longer involved in park operations. However, the organization still owns the furnishings and artifacts on display in the Visitor Center and house, and these items are on long-term loan to the National Park Service.
In 1997, a $12.5 million restoration project funded by the federal government began. The Garfield House was restored to the way it looked between 1880 and 1904. In addition, some of the outbuildings were renovated and / or repurposed (e. g. the carriage house and horse barn were converted into the Visitor Center). The park reopened in June 1998.
INSIDE THE GARFIELD HOUSE
The tour of the Garfield House covers two floors of the 1880 House and the second floor of the 1886 House, which is where the James Garfield Memorial Library is located. When the Garfield children donated the property to the WRHS, they took the few items they wanted and left the rest. Today, around eighty percent of the decor is original to the house or the Garfield Family.
1880 HOUSE FIRST FLOOR
SUMMER BEDROOM
When James was alive, he and Lucretia changed bedrooms in the summer and winter. The bedroom on the lower floor was used during the summer due to it being cooler. If looking at the house from the street, the bedroom is on the left corner. It had a view of the front porch and street. It was converted into a smoking parlor when Lucretia renovated the house in 1885-86. After the renovation, her full-time bedroom was on the second floor.
Today the Summer Bedroom is decorated once again as a bedroom. The secretary in the corner belonged to Garfield when he was the president of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, the college that became Hiram College. Garfield, who was also a student and a teacher at the college, was 26 years old when he took the position as president (called principal back then).
PARLOR
The parlor is located on the first floor of the 1880 House in the center of the building facing the street. The middle door on the front porch opens directly into the parlor. It can also be accessed via an interior doorway on the right when entering the house through the main entrance (left door on the front porch).
The painting on the wall near the fireplace is of Garfield’s mother, Eliza.
ELIZA’S ROOM
Garfield’s mother, Eliza, lived on the first floor in a room on the east side of the house facing the street (next to the parlor).
Eliza Garfield’s room on the first floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
The fire screen with Garfield’s portrait was a gift from the Wives of the Ohio Congressional Delegation. The fire screen would typically go in front of the fireplace to prevent sparks from flying into the room. It now sits in front of the window so the sun will illuminate the artwork.
Fire screen with James Garfield’s portrait on display in his mother’s bedroom on the first floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
RECEPTION HALL
While located on the first floor of the 1880 House, the Reception Hall was created during Lucretia’s 1885-86 remodeling project. This space was originally a hallway that provided access to the kitchen, dining room, parlor, and Eliza’s bedroom. When completed, it replaced the hallway and kitchen (the kitchen was moved to the 1886 House). The Reception Hall still connects to the other rooms.
DINING ROOM
The dining room has always been the dining room, before and after Lucretia’s renovations. In fact, it marks the northern end of the 1880 House. However, the bay window, door (right of the window), and cased opening in the northern wall (left of the window) were not part of the 1880 House. Lucretia added an east porch, which prompted her to install the bay window. The new door provided access to the porch. The cased opening connected to the butler’s pantry, which was in the new 1886 House.
The dishes on display in the china cabinet were what the Garfields took with them to the White House. The tiles around the fireplace were painted by Lucretia (upper two corners) and the children (all other tiles).
1880 HOUSE SECOND FLOOR
STAIRCASE TO SECOND FLOOR
On the landing of the staircase to the second floor is a painting of Garfield in his Union Army uniform. He rose to the rank of general during the Civil War. The painting was done in 1863 by Caroline Ransom, one of the few successful female portrait artists in the late 1800s.
Painting of James Garfield on the second floor landing of his house, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
ZEB RUDOLPH’S ROOM
After Lucretia’s mother died in 1878, her father, Zeb Rudolph, moved in and helped manage the farm. His room was on the second floor of the 1880 House.
Most of the carpet in the house is not original, but the rug in Rudolph’s room is.
Zeb Rudolph’s room on the second floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
Zeb Rudolph’s room on the second floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
IRVIN AND ABRAM BEDROOM
Irvin and Abram were the two youngest of the Garfield boys (there were four in all). Abram (1872-1958) was nine when his father was killed; Irvin (1870-1951) was eleven. Abram went on to become an architect in Cleveland. Irvin became an attorney with a practice in Boston.
Irvin and Abram Garfield’s room on the second floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
The carpet in this room is also original. Note that the design pattern on the carpet is a swastika. This was a symbol of good fortune before it became synonymous with the Nazi Party in Germany.
Irvin and Abram Garfield’s room on the second floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
WINTER BEDROOM
During the winter, James and Lucretia moved from the downstairs “summer” bedroom to the upstairs where it was warmer. After her husband’s death, Lucretia made this her full time bedroom.
The painting above the fireplace is of Edward. He was the last of the Garfields’ seven children. Tragically, he died a couple months before his second birthday from whooping cough. The portrait was painted by Caroline Ransom.
MOLLIE’S BEDROOM
Mollie was the only daughter of the Garfields who lived to adulthood. Their first born child, Eliza, died of diphtheria at age three.
JAMES GARFIELD’S OFFICE
Called the snuggery by Lucretia, this room was used by Garfield as his office. This is one of the more complete rooms in the house, for it was left almost exactly as it was when Garfield departed for Washington in February 1881 for his inauguration. From that time until his death six months later, he never returned to Mentor. The only change was that the fireplace was converted to gas during the 1885-86 renovation and the mantle was inscribed with “In Memoriam.” The collage of photos on the mantle was also added after his death. These are photos of Garfield’s classmates from Williams College who attended the inauguration.
James Garfield’s office on the second floor of the Garfield House, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
1886 HOUSE
JAMES GARFIELD MEMORIAL LIBRARY
James Garfield Memorial Library is on the second floor of the 1886 addition to his house in Mentor, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
The James Garfield Memorial Library is located on the second floor of the 1886 House. This is not an official presidential library, which is a large public facility maintained with private and federal funds, the first of which was established by Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. Lucretia made it for herself, friends and family, and anyone who stopped by and wanted to learn about Garfield. The arrangement of today’s decor is based on an existing photo from 1891.
The main room of the library holds books Garfield owned and is full of photos and other artworks, including a marble bust of Garfield done by Preston Powers in 1883. The room was also used for events. The Garfields’ daughter, Mollie, and son, Harry, were married here in a double wedding on June 14, 1888. Over 150 guests attended.
Bust of James Garfield on display in the library at his home in Mentor, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
A separate room, called the Memory Room by Lucretia, holds Garfield’s personal writings. This is a fire-proof room made out of concrete. Most of the bound volumes on the shelf are empty, as the originals are now in the Library of Congress.
Fire proof Memory Room in the James Garfield Memorial Library inside his house in Mentor, James A. Garfield National Historic Site
HOUSE MUSEUM
Located in the former kitchen on the lower floor of the 1886 House is an exhibit area dedicated to the evolution of the Garfield farm and house in Mentor. The House Museum is the last stop on the tour, and you are welcome to spend as much time here as you like. However, you cannot reenter the main house, and once you exit you cannot get back in except on another tour.
Topics include Lucretia’s 1885-86 renovation of the house, Garfield’s Front Porch Campaign for president, and the restoration of the house in 1997-98 by the National Park Service. There is also a collection of Garfield heirlooms that includes a decorative screen featuring Garfield’s mother, Eliza; the family cradle; Lucretia’s lap desk; Garfield’s exercise equipment; and a family portrait done by De Scott Evans in 1882.
The painting, titled Winter Evening at Lawfield, is set in the parlor, so it was referenced by the National Park Service when decorating that room. Lucretia planned to hang it in the memorial at Lakeview Cemetery where Garfield is buried, but she wasn’t too happy with it. She may not even have taken possession. Supposedly Evans still had it when he died, and it was sold afterwards. It eventually turned up in an art gallery in the 1960s. Obviously it ended up in the museum at James A. Garfield National Historic Site, but I do not know how it got into the hands of the National Park Service.
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Last updated on May 14, 2024