Bayou Bend050

Run by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bayou Bend has one of the nation's foremost assemblages of American decorative arts dating from 1620 through 1870. The house itself was built in 1928, and opened to the public as a museum in 1966. MFAH Members can receive discounted admission to Bayou Bend home tours.

The gardens are lush and beautiful, originally created as outdoor rooms for living and entertaining, not just views to be admired from within the house.

Guided home tours: Reservations required. 90-minute tours are offered every 15 minutes, Tue-Fri, 10am-11:30am and 1pm-2:45pm; Sat 10am-11:15am. Admission is $10 for adults; $8.50 for seniors; $5 for children ages 10 to 17. Note: Guided tours of the house are for ages 10 and over only. Children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Children under the age of 10, including babies, are not admitted into the house for guided tours.

Self-guided audio home tours are available for the whole family, including babies, Sat-Sun, 1pm-5pm. (Last admission is at 3:30pm.) Admission is $10 for adults; $8.50 for seniors; $5 for children ages 10 to 17, free for children ages nine and under.

Garden tours are self-guided and available for the whole family, Tue-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun 1pm-5pm. (Last admission is at 4pm each day.) Admission is $3 for adults and youths ages 10 and over; free for children ages nine and under.

Free family days are offered on the third Sunday of each month, from September through May. Families can particpiate in hands-on activities, watch demonstrations and performances, and tour the gardens and selected rooms in the house.

Bayou Bend also hosts a one-week, interactive summer history camp, giving middle-school students an opportunity to learn about life in 18th-century America through hands-on workshops, presentations, and in-depth tours of the house.