The Daly Mansion

 

(Above:  The Daly Mansion.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

One of the attractions here in Hamilton is the Daly Mansion, a grand home that started when Marcus Daly purchased the once existing farmhouse in 1886.  He had it remodeled for his family by 1889 but renovated and expanded it in 1897 in the popular Queen Anne Victorian style. From 1907-1910, after Mr. Daly died, the house was again enlarged to the current Georgian-Revival mansion with over 50 rooms, including 25 bedrooms and15 bathrooms.

 

There is also a music room, a billiard room, a trophy room with stuffed animal heads, a sun room, a formal dining room, and play rooms for the children. The 24,000 square feet (plus a full basement) were used by Mrs. Margaret Daly for family gatherings and entertaining her many friends.

Mrs. Daly died in 1941. Then the home was boarded up with all its furnishings until ownership changed to a state-owned property managed by the Daly Mansion Preservation Trust, a non-profit started in 1986. That same year, the furnishings were all sold at auction.  The Trust bought quite a bit of the original furniture and items, and over the years, many of the original things have been donated back to the museum.  

 

The home and 26.5 acres of gardens opened to the public in a year later.  More recently, the television series Yellowstone and 1923 have used rooms for filming!  Keep scrolling for some of my favorite pictures taken during the excellent, docent-led tour!