Boston House Museums

The Gibson House was built in Back Bay in 1860. The National Park Service declared the Gibson House a National Historic Landmark in 2001. It is a unique single-family residence that has its kitchen, scullery, butler's pantry and water closets, as well as formal rooms and private family quarters, filled with the Gibsons' original furniture and personal possessions.  
The Gibson House represents American domestic life during the 1850s-70s at its most vertical.   It was built during the popularization of row housing and consists of six floors that were all designed to serve different functions.   In 1855, to accommodate the city's growth, homes in the Back Bay were equipped with the most up-to-date conveniences including gas lighting and running water provided by public gas lines and a 96-mile water and sewer system. There was no air conditioning at that time, so in the summer there was no cooling system. Modern heat was eventually added in the 1930s.
In this home, the kitchen was in the basement because that's where the servants did all of their work. They cooked and washed the laundry in the ground floor. There is also an area in the back of the house where the trash could be taken out. Because the servants were either always on the top or bottom floors doing work, they had a bell call system in every room of the house. Before electricity each person could call one another from different rooms using bells connected with wires.
The outside of this house does no justice for the beauty that exists inside. The front of the house outside is very plain and basic. It consists of a small, fenced in front yard leading up to the red brick row house. There is one sign in the front yard to acknowledge its importance of being a famous museum. The tasteful interiors are ornate with black-walnut woodwork, elegant Japanese wallpapers, imported carpets, and an abundance of furniture, paintings, sculpture, photographs, silver, porcelain, curios, and 18th-century family heirlooms.... [continues]

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