The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk is a great place for families to learn and explore together. Designated a National Historic Landmark, the mansion is one of the country’s earliest and most significant surviving Second Empire–style homes. Built between 1864 and 1868 for railroad financier LeGrand Lockwood, its grand Victorian interiors—including stenciled walls, inlaid woodwork, and a skylit rotunda—offer a striking glimpse into the post–Civil War era.After Lockwood’s death, merchant Charles Drelincourt Mathews bought the estate in 1876 as a summer home for his family.
His daughter Florence Mathews, who was 21 when the family purchased the property, became deeply attached to the home and was its final resident, living there full-time after her father died in 1934 until her own death in 1938. Guided tours introduce visitors to the mansion’s period rooms, decorative arts, early household technologies, and servants’ quarters, revealing the experiences of both the prominent families who lived there and the domestic workers who cared for the estate.
Located in Mathews Park a visit can easily become a full family outing. The park also includes a playground, tennis courts, picnic areas, a historic cemetery, an arts center, and the Stepping Stones Museum for Children, a hands-on museum designed for children ages 10 and under.