ruthmere mansion

This is the gem of Elkhart. Do not miss this home. It is beautiful and a very interesting historical tour. After watching a short video about the family tree, you will take about a 45 minute home tour.

Worth seeing for a weekend short trip. Beautiful site and the facility is well kept. We had a group tour, rescheduled a few times due to weather condition but the museum staff was able to accommodate our changes.

Historic older home in Elkhart provides glimpse into the past. Open Sunday afternoons; first Sundays the admission fee is waved.

This is a very beautiful mansion . It shows you how the other half lived long ago. The tour was very interesting.

This mansion, though rather plain on the outside, is stunning on the inside. A lot of care and effort has gone into restoring this home to its original glory. From the game room in the basement to the beautiful dining room to the gorgeous bedrooms, it has been returned to the grandeur one can imagine it was in the days when it was built. The tour takes you through every room and the guide gives you great details about the building of the home, the restoration, the families that lived in the home and all the various myths that surround the home. You get to see the servants quarters and the garage with its turntable used so the cars could be turned around inside the garage. The guides tell you about what pieces are original to the owners and which were picked because they were from the the correct period and would have been the type of furniture the owners would have owned. We arrived on a weekend when there was a special weekend event with free coffee and live entertainment that we enjoyed while we waited on the next tour. They are on the hour. We also bought a combo ticket that let us tour the Havilah Beardsley house as well. This house is also worth a visit. Though not as grand it is historical and you learn a lot more about the settlement of Elkhart. Unfortunately, they don't allow photos in either house. The price is very reasonable and a very good tour.

My husband and I chose the Ruthmere Mansion as our venue for our classic wedding in June 2012. As soon as I drove up to the grounds, I knew immediately that this was the place that I wanted to be married in. The staff were very friendly and they explained the entire process to us, walking us through the options and showing us the beautiful scenery. They offered us two different options (indoor or out) and really made me feel special. I chose an outdoor wedding because of the June timeframe. I imagined the beautiful archway and the horse and buggy arrival. Every detail was implemented perfectly and the event went as smooth as possible.The area is sublime for photos and the setting is like a dream. The bride and groom are allowed to take photos inside the front foyer of the mansion, which feels very elegant! I recommend having a harpist for music because it just adds to the style of the place! It was very reasonably priced compared to all the venues in the area - and it is MUCH nicer than other places in Elkhart. I had the wedding of my dreams and would not have changed a thing!! It really was a wonderful day and I recommend it to my friends constantly. In fact, my friend from work is getting married there later this year!!!

Fun To tour and See how the other half lived. Interesting Staff and Beautiful grounds make this a feel like home. I thought the house would be bigger then it was. This is a must see if you haven't yet.

The Ruthmere mansion offers tours on the hour during the season. The building is in excellent shape, and contains a lovely variety of decor in the Beaux Arts style. The tour starts with a video about the building and family. There are stairs to climb, but you get a very thorough overview of the way things were in the early part of the 20th century.Our tourguide is also the caretaker, and provided a very knowledgable insight into the life and times of the building.One of the best historic house tours I have ever been on.

The Ruthmere mansion is a great place to spend some time enjoying a fantastic house from days gone by! The tour told about the house and the local history of life in Elkhart. It was really enjoyable. The house is beautiful. With lots of interesting features. It is nicer if you have a smaller group on the tours. The gardens are also very pretty. You can rent the place for weddings and special events.

The Ruthmere Mansion near the river in Elkhart is a quaint and enjoyable way to spend a few hours. You can learn about Elkhart history and get some great stories about the people, too. The home is a luxurious and beautiful showpiece with time era appropriate furnishings. Art by Rodin, Tiffany lamps, china from Salmon P Chase..just a few of the things that you and your kids can see. The gardens are lovely and the garage is fun, too. The docents can tell you all of the neat stories that go along with the place. Girls seems to enjoy it more than boys, so don't take a really long time wandering through it if you have your son with you. There is a "NO TOUCH" policy so as to preserve the materials and such in the home, and this is a bit of a drag for kids, too. But, a great place to go for an afternoon or a rainy day and all will enjoy.

Those who appreciate architecture & design, or can appreciate a grand structure from the early 1900, built with locally sourced materials that reflects the life of an affluent family will enjoy a tour of this lovely grand home. Perhaps most amazing of all is that generations of families both related to the original owners and not related to them, have safeguarded this special property. Tours were only available by following the guide, and picture taking was not permitted in the most interesting parts of the home. While this is a disappointment, sadder still perhaps is the reason why they had to institute this policy. While the tour was excellent, we were kept very tight together often blocking each other's view, and herded from room to room. That being said, a tour of the Ruthmere Home offers an incredible step back in time to how those of means lived in the early 1900's. Car buff alert- the garage with its turn table in the floor, hold additional treasures for you as well.

Went on First Sunday when it was free. The place is spectacular and because it was a self-guided tour I was able to really take my time and take it all in. Docents, for the most part, were good and they had a three-ring binder as supporting material in case they had questions that they could not answer.Not sure how much you can linger on one of the scheduled public tours.One disappointment was no pictures.

This is a very interesting mansion with lots of great history. You should definitely check it out. It has beautiful gardens and lawns.They were serving free coffee the day we visited.

If you are into architecture and mansions of yesteryear, a great house to tour. Furnished as close to original as possible. All the "modern" conveniences of it's day like the mansions of Detroit and elsewhere. Especially beautiful the month of December with holiday decorations. Modest fee; some free times.

The beautiful mansion is full of antiques, art, history of elkhart and outdoor gardens. The guides are very knowledgable and do a great job of recreating what it was like to live at the turn of the century and before.