Ellwood House Museum

Ellwood House Museum Historic mansion built in 1879, surrounded by a 10-acre park located in DeKalb, Illinois. Please call 815.756.4609 to confirm availability.

Guided Tour Options:

MANSION TOUR: A guided tour through 3 floors of the 1879 mansion. The Mansion has closed for the season from December 18, 2022 through March 1, 2023. VISITOR CENTER EXHIBITS: Free and open to the public 12:30pm to 4:30pm Tuesday through Friday.

🐝 The end of August brings with it our last blooms of the season, and a lot of busy bees! While most of our gardens are ...
08/30/2026

🐝 The end of August brings with it our last blooms of the season, and a lot of busy bees! While most of our gardens are winding down their peak season, there are still a few flowers that are popping up around the museum campus:

🌹 Roses - Berg Garden, Wedding Garden, and Rose Garden (near the water tower)
🌼 Anemone - Berg Garden
🌸 Hydrangeas - Throughout the park
🌼 Marigolds - Visitor Center and Wedding Garden
🌸 New England Aster - Rain Garden
🌼 Periwinkle - Wedding Garden
🌸 Red Salvia - Wedding Garden

🌳 The Ellwood House Museum is located on a public park, which is free for anyone to visit from sunrise to sunset. Check out these beautiful flowers before their season ends!

This week, Nancy Leone finished her work as Carpenter Fellow in Asian Collections, a grant-funded position made possible...
08/29/2026

This week, Nancy Leone finished her work as Carpenter Fellow in Asian Collections, a grant-funded position made possible with support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Since last August, she has researched, catalogued, and cared for about 200 objects with Asian and Asian-inspired motifs in the museum's collection. Many of these were collected by May Ellwood during the early to mid-twentieth century as part of a broader trend among affluent Americans to display their worldliness and wealth.

Over the course of her Fellowship, Nancy has worked alongside museum staff, interns, volunteers, independent researchers, and NIU students and faculty. We are currently in the process of developing an exhibition centered around her work, called "Crossing Cultures: Asian Motifs in the Ellwood House Museum Collection."

The exhibition will open in December 2028. Stay tuned for more information and updates!

Thank you, Nancy, for all your dedication, insight, and hard work!

♥Why we love Wine on the Terrace: 🍷 Wine Tastings on the terrace of the 1879 Ellwood Mansion.👥 A space for community par...
08/26/2026

♥Why we love Wine on the Terrace:

🍷 Wine Tastings on the terrace of the 1879 Ellwood Mansion.
👥 A space for community partners to support local history and preservation efforts.
🎒All sponsorships, ticket sales, and donations support our year-round preservation work, school field trips, and public programs.
🎟 Our silent auction and raffle stocked with local favorites and experiences for our guests to bid on.
🎶 Live Music for our guests to enjoy throughout the event.
🚶1st floor self-guided tours of the Ellwood Mansion.

Wine on the Terrace only comes around once a year, and we want to make sure you love it too! Get your tickets today: https://www.ellwoodhouse.org/wot

🔴⚫ Welcome back to school Huskies! 🔴⚫We hope you have an amazing year at Northern Illinois University! We will see every...
08/24/2026

🔴⚫ Welcome back to school Huskies! 🔴⚫

We hope you have an amazing year at Northern Illinois University! We will see everyone at Campus Meets Community on September 2. Make sure to stop by our booth to learn more about local history, the Ellwood Campus, and opportunities to get involved!

👀 P.S. We have internship opportunities open to students! you can check them out on our website here: https://www.ellwoodhouse.org/work-with-us

❓ What to do at the Ellwood House... Other than the Museum ❓While we love to see people checking out our Visitor Center ...
08/21/2026

❓ What to do at the Ellwood House... Other than the Museum ❓

While we love to see people checking out our Visitor Center galleries and attending tours, we understand that history is not everyone’s cup of tea. Our latest blog post (mostly written for students returning to campus) features some fun activities to do at the Ellwood House Museum campus, without even having to step foot into the buildings. Check out the post here: https://www.ellwoodhouse.org/blog/what-to-do-at-the-ellwood-house-other-than-the-museum

Send this to a current of incoming NIU student to give them some great ideas on how to engage with the community outside of campus!

✨ One Month Away 🍷Wine on the Terrace is quickly approaching! We are excited to be hosting this event once again to furt...
08/19/2026

✨ One Month Away 🍷

Wine on the Terrace is quickly approaching! We are excited to be hosting this event once again to further the mission and vision of the Ellwood House Museum. Our community is so important to us, and events like these allow us to continue being a community resource and drive us towards further restoration and preservation of the Ellwood House grounds.

This event only happens once a year, so make sure to get your tickets today: https://www.ellwoodhouse.org/wot

We have an update regarding the ceiling collapse detailed in our earlier post. We will be reopening the Ellwood Mansion ...
08/18/2026

We have an update regarding the ceiling collapse detailed in our earlier post. We will be reopening the Ellwood Mansion for tours beginning tomorrow, August 19!

After a few days of dusting, moving furniture, dusting, reorganizing display objects, and dusting, the Mansion is once again ready for visitors. The tour will include all four floors of the mansion, but the Sunroom and Nanny’s Room located directly above will be off-limits. Work will continue over the coming weeks and months to repair and restore the Sunroom ceiling so that we can again interpret the space for visitors.

We will resume our standard tour schedule of Wednesday through Sunday at 1pm and 3pm. Pre-book now on our website or over the phone. We hope to see you soon!

‼️ Important Update ‼️On Wednesday, August 12, just a few minutes before the 1:00 Mansion tour, most of the plaster ceil...
08/18/2026

‼️ Important Update ‼️

On Wednesday, August 12, just a few minutes before the 1:00 Mansion tour, most of the plaster ceiling in the Mansion Sunroom collapsed. Fortunately, no one was in the room at the time, and no one was injured. The DeKalb Fire Department responded within minutes, conducted a walk-through, and confirmed there were no other immediate structural concerns. DeKalb Park District staff were on site soon after and began blocking off windows and moving furniture to prevent additional damage. Museum staff implemented the museum disaster plan and began securing collections objects that had been on display in the room.

Park District and Museum Staff have begun the lengthy process of cleaning up, preparing and submitting insurance claims, coordinating construction, etc. We anticipate that this will take several months, during which time the Sunroom will be inaccessible.

The Mansion and Visitor’s Center will be closed through Wednesday, August 19 at which time we will assess our progress and make an announcement of when we will resume regular tours. Please check our website and social media channels for updates and information.

Thank you all for your continued support of the Ellwood House Museum. Please feel free to call the Visitor Center at (815) 756-4609 or email [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. We plan to reopen for tours in the near future, and will continue to host events like Wine on the Terrace, Ellwood After Dark, and the Holiday Open House. We look forward to seeing you there!

🎶 That's a wrap for Music at the Mansion 2026! 🎶Thank you so much to everyone who joined us on the front lawn of the Ell...
08/16/2026

🎶 That's a wrap for Music at the Mansion 2026! 🎶

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us on the front lawn of the Ellwood Mansion to enjoy wonderful shows put together by the DeKalb Park District! We know the weather wasn't very cooperative with us this year, but we are so grateful for the artists who were flexible with their schedules to make sure the show could go on. Here's to another great year!

✏ Back to school looked a little bit different for the Ellwood family! 🎒Harriet Ellwood was educated in a one-room schoo...
08/14/2026

✏ Back to school looked a little bit different for the Ellwood family! 🎒

Harriet Ellwood was educated in a one-room schoolhouse and studied at Rockford Seminary, where she would later send most of her daughters. The children of Isaac and Harriet were educated in early DeKalb Public schools. Later on, their children would go on to attend Rockford Female Seminary, the Art Institute of Chicago, Smith College, Misses Grant's School in Chicago, the Michigan Military Academy, Beloit College Academy, and the Metropolitan Business College in Chicago.

The children of Perry and May Ellwood were educated much differently than the generation before them, as the family now had amassed significant wealth through barbed wire and other business ventures. Their children were provided with a private tutor at the mansion, attended some DeKalb public schools, and private schools including Principia, Todd School for Boys, and Spence School in New York state. The photo below features Patty Ellwood in her room at Spence School!

Wishing everyone a great back to school season!

Address

420 Linden Place
Dekalb, IL
60115

Telephone

+18157564609

Website

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