White House of the Confederacy

White House of the Confederacy

White House of the Confederacy
4.5
Military MuseumsSpeciality MuseumsHistory Museums
11:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
11:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
11:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
To ensure the health and safety of both visitors and staff, masks are required & the majority of the tour will take place outside the House. Visitors will have the opportunity to walk through the rooms on the first floor with a trained guide and take pictures. The walkthrough will conclude in the basement with a Q&A session. The White House of the Confederacy is located in downtown Richmond's historic Court End neighborhood, just a few blocks from Capitol Square. Guided tours of Jefferson Davis' executive mansion leave from the Museum lobby throughout the day and typically last around 45 minutes. The American Civil War Museum owns and maintains the White House of the Confederacy. You can visit their other Richmond location at Historic Tredegar. The Museum of the Confederacy is no longer open. It closed September 30, 2018 as we prepare to move the collection to its new home at the American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar. The new museum building will open in the spring of 2019.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Address
How to get there
  • Main Street Station • 8 min walk
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See what travelers are saying
  • John L
    Fairfield, Connecticut444 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A must for Civil War buffs
    This is a period house from the early 1800's but the fact that Jefferson Davis and family lived here during the Civil War makes it worth a visit. Our docent was well-versed on the house itself and the Davis family. Only downside -- parking is in the neighboring hospital parking garage which can be a challenge.
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 3, 2023
  • Dan D
    Concord, California230 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great tour and overall experience!
    Excellent tour that I highly recommend! We booked reservations from home weeks in advance and on the day of tour, we finished our previous sites early and asked if we could join an earlier tour of the house. They were most accommodating, and we waited just a few minutes in the ante room for our tour to begin. They have a gift shop which we perused while we waited. Our tour was very friendly and very knowledgeable about the house, Richmond, and the Civil War in general, and that made for a very pleasant experience. The tour is worth seeing and should not be missed if you are taking a historical look at Richmond.
    Visited July 2023
    Written July 27, 2023
  • anderson213
    Hannibal, Missouri818 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Enjoyed This Alot
    My family actually thought this was better in several ways than visiting America's White House. This gives you an actual real tour of the home with some context of the time period and Civil War facts. I never knew that Lincoln and Tad visited this building only 2 days after the Confederate capital fell. Also, there was a lot of info. presented about Jefferson Davis and his marriage to Varina. Excellent tour.
    Visited June 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written August 12, 2023
  • JCH
    5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent Tour w/ Charlie!!
    First time in Richmond and had a fantastic tour of the White House of the Confederacy in early November. Our tour guide, Charlie, really knew all the ins and outs. We also had a 4 late arrivals and he was able to quickly incorporate them into the tour. The tour really helped make this visit to Richmond. Learned so much and highly recommend!
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written November 3, 2023
  • Geoffrey E
    St. Catharines, Canada616 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great tour
    The tour is very worthwhile. Our guide was Andy and she was the best, most knowledgeable, most unflappable docent I’ve had in years. She handled everyone’s questions perfectly. She knew her facts. Perfect. The house is an interesting slice of history and will reward your investment of an hour.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written November 4, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles1,275 reviews
Excellent
727
Very good
401
Average
104
Poor
29
Terrible
14

18marilyn
Hillsborough, NH170 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
You can combine the ticket with the Civil War Museum to save some money. The house is beautifully restored. Some of the furnishings are original. The guide will tell you the inside stories about people who lived there. You must take the guided tours that run hourly. Additional informative exhibits self guided in the basement.
Written February 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

The_Wanderer1992
Columbia, MD1,824 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
My husband and I went here for a tour of the White House of the Confederacy. We had a small tour group with only about 10 people. The tour guide's name was Anna and she was very knowledgable. Our tour length was about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Jefferson Davis lived in this house during the war with his family and a few slaves. After they moved out, it was a schoolhouse for a number of years and then it's been a museum since the early 1900s. They tried to replicate it as much as possible and even have some originals from some of the people who lived in the house, such as Jefferson Davis' spouse herself. You get a tour through the first floor and second floors where you see the bedrooms, Jefferson Davis' office, dining room, and living room. If you've been to the house in Mount Vernon or in Monticello then it's a similar style - big 1800s house with fancy European decor. There is a free parking available which is right next door and is also hospital parking.
Written August 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

irishsue70
Oregon102 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021
WOW! Very impressive indeed. We were a bit fearful at first because we saw you had to make reservations on line and in advance but we took a chance and explained we had no internet access and did not know it was a requirement. There were only six people scheduled to tour at the same time as us so we were allowed to join the group. The interior was stunning. The guide was very knowledgeable and he had additional pictures to show us to enhance the tour. This building was probably the highlight of all I visited during my seven days in Virginia.
Written October 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

gprimr1
Baltimore, MD2,779 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021
I really enjoyed this tour. You get to see a decent amount of the house and learn a lot about how the CSA leadership worked and how some of the aspects of the house contributed to their downfall. Very educational as well.

If you only have time to do this of the museum at Historic Tredegar, do this one, because this one actually has so much more that is specific to Richmond.
Written September 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

harryatkck
Kansas City, KS996 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022
A guided tour is required to see this. The cost is $12 a person & you have to reserve & pay for your tour online before you take it. The web site was difficult to use, but after some effort I got my tour booked. I toured on a Sunday, so parking was free in the MCV parking deck. There are few signs from the parking garage to direct you where your tour starts. Exit the parking garage where you entered it, go left on Clay St for a block & there it is. Your tour starts in a small office behind the building. The house was well maintained in period furnishings & the tour guide was excellent. This is a must do for any Civil War buff.
Written May 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maura M
New York City, NY62 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Solo
I really learned a lot here about Jefferson Davis. The quality of the display items was quite high and our tour guide was very very good. His comments inspired me to buy a biography of Jefferson Davis and learn more.
Written November 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

EphraimWilliams
Buffalo, NY172 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021 • Solo
I recently did the tour and enjoyed learning about the history of the house. The tour guide was very nice and thorough.

I left, however, feeling that I had just listened to a version of history that intentionally softened things in order to counter anything that made the South look bad. In short, I paid close attention to what was said and how it was said. For example, the guide for my tour described Jefferson Davis as a “moderate”. Further, the guide for my tour mentioned how, after being freed, a former slave “chose” to stay with the Davis family. These are but two examples that show how the narrative was shaped and shared.

I did not raise my reactions with the guide during the tour because that would not have been fair to the guide. It was a tour, not a panel discussion.

Final point…. I noticed that gift shop was selling Harriet Tubman magnets. The irony…
Written October 21, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

nctraveler315
Winston Salem, NC169 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Couples
Interesting tour, our guide was very knowledgeable and informative. Great stop for history lovers. Parking around the house is impossible as it is literally in the middle of a hospital complex next to the emergency room. Park in the hospital deck and the museum will validate parking so it’s no cost
Written July 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

george p
Atlanta, GA15 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
The home tour provided an insight to both the Davis family and the civil war. Both were very interesting. Our tour guide gave about a 45 minute tour of the home and answered all our questions. The period furnishings were very interesting. I only wish that we were able to tour the third floor.
Written February 24, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

anderson213
Hannibal, MO818 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Family
My family actually thought this was better in several ways than visiting America's White House. This gives you an actual real tour of the home with some context of the time period and Civil War facts. I never knew that Lincoln and Tad visited this building only 2 days after the Confederate capital fell. Also, there was a lot of info. presented about Jefferson Davis and his marriage to Varina.

Excellent tour.
Written August 12, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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White House of the Confederacy, Richmond

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