In Hartford, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known as Mark Twain, and his family lived from 1874 to 1891 in a striking Victorian Gothic Revival house at Nook Farm that became the center of his most productive years. There he wrote many of his best-known books, welcomed leading literary and social figures, and shaped a lively family life in richly designed rooms later enhanced by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Financial collapse forced the family to leave for Europe, and after Susy Clemens died there they never returned. Sold in 1903, the house later escaped demolition, was restored to its late nineteenth-century character, and became a major historic house museum and literary landmark.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain