Gibson House

The Italian Renaissance-style townhouse, designed by local architect Edward Clarke Cabot and completed in 1860, was one of the first to be built in Back Bay. Although the brownstone and red-brick building isn't remarkable from the outside, the interior offers a rare glimpse into how wealthy Bostonians once lived. The house was impeccably and intentionally preserved by its last occupant, the idiosynchratic Charles Gibson Jr, and converted into a museum in 1957. Visitors on the hour-long tour can see four of the home's six floors, from the ground level where the servants labored to the exquisite dining rooms, bedrooms and library above. Every room (except the servants' domain) is decorated with exquisite china, bronze sculptures and other accoutrements of 19th-century prosperity.