Hammond-Harwood House — Attraction in Annapolis

Hammond-Harwood House – Colonial Elegance with a Side of Ghosts & Gossip 🏛️🌕⚰️

History lesson? Sure. But boring? Absolutely not. The Hammond-Harwood House serves up Annapolis history with a splash of scandal, a dash of mystery, and plenty of jaw-dropping architecture to admire while you're at it.

Of course, you can take the classic house tour — period furnishings, portraits, all the colonial fancy stuff. But the real fun? Their offbeat, totally-worth-it themed tours:

🌕 Full Moon Tour

By day, it’s a stately mansion. By night? Dim the lights, pour a glass of wine, and follow your guide as they spill all the after-dark secrets of 19th-century Annapolis. Locked doors, whispered stories, and enough candlelight to set the mood.

🌿 Secret Garden & Architecture Tours

Want to peek behind the walls? Their garden and architecture tours show off the hidden corners of this historic gem — boxwoods, brick pathways, and a masterclass in colonial design. Basically, it’s history and horticulture with a little bit of neighborhood envy thrown in.

⚰️ St. Anne’s Cemetery Tour

Where do Annapolis' finest end up? A guided wander through St. Anne's Cemetery reveals the fortunes, feuds, and possibly a few restless spirits of those who once called the Hammond-Harwood House home. Gossip doesn’t end at the grave, after all.

Pro tip: Keep an eye on their events calendar — they’re always cooking up new ways to bring Annapolis’ colonial past to life (and sometimes, a little...

Hmmm. Looks great from the outside. Staff were very friendly....but gotta say this one was really underwhelming. We took the 60-minute, $12 tour. Our tour guide was very nice and friendly but had limited capacity to answer basic questions (ex. How many square feet is the residence?). The last lineage owner of the property had no heirs and went bankrupt so all the "original" possessions were removed/ sold by creditors, and while they have clearly made efforts to obtain some of the original home furnishings, very little original items remain ( 1-2 small items per room based on our guide). As a result, the place has period pieces that are an educated estimate or like what may have been there. The really odd thing to us is that probably 40 of our 60 minute tour was spent discussing the many paintings in every room from Charles Willson Peale and many different furniture pieces by John Shaw.....but when asked what these local artists had to do with the house itself or the families that had lived here, the guide was unsure and said they mainly collect them because they were local artists. Hmmm, okay. The gardens grass was full of crabgrass and weeds, but they did have some beautiful magnolias and reasonably maintained plants. Overall, I guess we just expected more and were hoping for a more cohesive fact filled tour by a guide with more details...

This was a great historical house to visit. Very well preserved, and subsequent owners didn’t make many changes so it’s an excellent piece of history. I visited on a Wednesday and spent $12 to join a 1hr group tour, but I was the only person to show and got a lovely personal tour. The docents were very knowledgeable and friendly, and were happy to answer questions. There were actually archaeologists digging in the front yard while I was there, which was cool to see in action. In addition to info about this specific home, I learned a lot about Annapolis and architecture in that era in general. Would...