Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds

The Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds is a family-friendly museum with period rooms, interactive games, and puzzles. It is a great place to enjoy historic gardens and play outdoor games while exploring the stories about colonial life, the Revolutionary War, slavery, abolitionism, the birth of American horticulture, and the historic preservation movement.

Built in 1734, the site explores the lives and contributions of three families over three centuries. The Durant story investigates colonial life and the events leading up to the American Revolution. The Kenricks were leaders in the horticultural revolution and the abolition movement in the nineteenth century. The Dewings were pioneers in historic preservation.

Parking is available on site with spaces reserved for visitors with mobility issues. Additional parking can be found on Waverley Ave and Kenrick St.

NOTE: Masks will be available at the desk for anyone who would like one.

Exhibits

The Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds is not your typical historic house! You’ll step back in time with fun games, multimedia and audio programs, hands-on activities, and 100+ year-old specimen trees. Gain insight into today’s issues of equality, sustainability, politics and protest. The tranquil grounds showcase remnants from the Kenrick’s booming nineteenth-century nursery, which introduced fruit and ornamental tree varieties still enjoyed today.

Participation in Museum Day is open to any tax-exempt or governmental museum or cultural venue on a voluntary basis. Smithsonian magazine encourages museum visitation, but is not responsible for and does not endorse the content of the participating museums and cultural venues, and does not subsidize museums that participate.