Still so beautiful! My kids loved the dollhouse just like I did, and still do!

What a nice place to visit, very nice mansion, lots of history, must go and visit.

Although not able to enter, we were able to stroll the historical grounds and enjoy the architect and History tablets of this unique quiet beautiful surroundings. The miniature Queen Ann style home was alluring. Memorable time. Plan to visit once again

Loved the tour of this home absolutely beautiful home hope to be coming back soon!

Heads up: No photography allowed in the home. Personally, that defeats the purpose of my visit, if I cant take photos of places Ive visited in my life. But you can take photos of the outside of the house and get up close to the windows and take photos of the living room as you stand on the porch. Theres also a visitor center, where photos ARE allowed and you can learn about Elwoods history.Staff was pretty nice. They greeted me & told me where the restrooms are located & then they went back to work in their office. They just let me walk through the visitor center like a ghost walking through the halls. Thats fine by me! I rather be a ghost than have staff drill me with questions like I have in other museums:Where are you visiting from?Where do you live?How did you hear about us?Have you visited our website?Have you visited us before?Where are you going after the museum?Im JUST passing through... Dang!

Historically Beautiful and Restored

Wonderful tour and grounds.

This is a surprisingly interesting view into the lives of the well heeled and their servants from the end of the 19th century into the middle of the 20th. For only $8, you spend ~1 hr getting a guided tour of the original family mansion built by barb wire fortune and subsequently updated by the sale of more barb wire. Sounds odd, but its definitely worth doing. The architecture and recovered restored furnishings of the original residence are worth the price of admission, even if it didnt include the stories shared by the docents and guides. Definitely worth it if you are in Dekalb.

Very enjoyable.

The Museum Curator and Exec Dir of the Park District have flawlessly facilitated many events I have attended at this facility.

Ellwood house museum and park put on a summer concert series, in which I attended the last one Wednesday evening. The theme was jazz and very entertaining. They also had food/drinks for purchase. Also didnt mind bringing your own.

Dakota, but warm and comfortable

Beauty and local history all in one place. They have a wonderful Christmas tour.

Lovely tour guide! She was wonderful!

Very interesting! The visitors center is full of fascinating information and the tour of the mansion was very nice.

Currently closed due to covid

Just an old town day with family and friends. Nice performance and a lot of beautiful artwork from KVAL and some cheery plant conversation with DAGC. If you needed a snack it was available.

I very much enjoyed mu tour of the home at Christmas time.

The museum campus includes two elegant homes built by the Ellwood family. The older home, built in 1879, is fully furnished with the familys furniture and is available to be toured from March to November. This first weekend of December is always a special treat because the house is beautifully decorated for Christmas by local groups and businesses. Also, local musicians play Christmas music in the rotunda. Light refreshments are served in the visitors center which has an excellent free exhibit about the family and their barbed wire business. Well worth a visit!

A good museum with a great tour. Lots of original details

Living history. Great to visit and see where weve come from and that heritage is being kept alive.

Surprisingly interesting. Its amazing how something so simple as barbed wire has such a big history. The tour of the Ellwood Mansion was fun, but really hot in the summer since theres no AC. Be prepared to break a sweat.

Fun. Lots of stairs though.

This is such a nice place to go, so interesting and well done museum.

From the Visitors Center Museum to the mansion, I always discover something new. Check out the nature path if you get the chance and dont mind the possibility of getting a little dirty. Walking the grounds is NOT overrated!

Cant wait to go back, on saw the carriage house.

Great history and the story of the invention of barbed wire.

Its just cool old Historical history

A local gem, there is a wealth of history at this property. Our group was given a tour by Audrey and she did an incredible job educating us about the Ellwood family, house, and so much more.

Love going here and hearing the history. Especially during their Christmas open house.

The guided tour was excellent. The grounds are so beautiful. I highly recommend.

A great piece of local history!

Very attractive gardens, great location for photos

We werent able to do a proper visit but wandering round the grounds made us put it on our list of things to do.

If you live in Dekalb (or your just visiting for some reason) Id recommend dropping in the visitor center here. Its free to the public- and theres an interesting exhibit of barb wire history on the second floor.

Dedicated staff offers great tours of this historic DeKalb house, they painstakingly decorate a late nineteenth century manor to impressive detail, based off of original photographs and the testimony of surviving Ellwood family members. Tours are of decent length, as the house is enormous, price is reasonable and a great date spot for students at Northern Illinois University.

Fun place with a lot of history for the house and area. The grounds are quite nice for just a walk!

A nice house

Beautiful historic property with something fun for all ages. Great for events and parties and has a great and knowledgeable staff.

Tour guide really informational. Gave us a tour for only me and girl (since we were the only ones there in like 100 degree weather). Showed us everything didnt skip out.

There isnt a better place for a taste of both Victorian American culture and local history with global impact.

Great

Wonderful visit. This is a must see if you are in the DeKalb area.

Come check out this place. Nice family day activity.

Awesome tour and house.

Beautiful grounds excellently maintained Vicotorian mansion and estate. Beautiful caraige house that has been turned into an art gallery. A jewel in dreary DeKalb!

Nice tour they only walk through the houses at 1, 2, and 3

My friends and I wanted a tour, it really looks lovely but the price was not in our budget

Awesome museum and home

If barbed wire is your thing this is the place for you! Otherwise a great free museum to spend a few hours at.

Beautiful place. Bright clean and extremely welcoming

There are four houses that can be viewed also a small Museum the childs Playhouse you can actually walk into the garage where they kept all their antique cars is full of photographs and memorabilia one of the small houses to view is also a museum so its great opportunity and theres a 10-acre garden be sure to read the brochure online for X dates and what tour you were signing up for

Took my family and it was a great experience. The cold weather was a bit annoying but the staff and tour was very informative and nice.

Nice small museum.

Very nice people and cool Museum.

Beautiful place for taking great pictures!

Beautiful place, interesting history!

Great stop in Dekalb.

Very interesting

Took the tour very interesting

Historic landmark, beautiful grounds.

Nice place