Heritage Hall, Madison

Ben was an amazing tour guide! I’m visiting a friend in Georgia and wanted to see some famous historic houses. Mary Kay at the Welcome Center was super helpful and nice, and recommended a few historic homes to tour. We went to Rogers House and Rose Cottage before seeing Heritage Hall and were greeted by Ben, who is probably the best tour guide I’ve ever had on any tour. He was engaging, knowledgeable, and most of all HILARIOUS. If he had a script he was going off of it definitely didn’t feel that way. He made us guess what items in the house were used for, he asked us in each room if we had any questions or comments, and was very personable and interactive... I walked away feeling like I knew as much as there is to know about the houses and their owners. Heritage Hall was a different story. We arrived 10 minutes before the last tour started, and the lady who opened the door (I believe her name was Lisa) seemed rather annoyed that we were there, as she was in the middle of a tour. We joined right in and she took us through the rooms with the rest of the group. She sounded like she was reading from a script, which there is nothing wrong with in and of itself but after having Ben as our guide it was a huge letdown. The whole tour was honestly very dry and boring, and I walked away not feeling like I had learned much of anything. It also felt a little rushed, which I imagine was because we were part of the last group. It wasn’t horrible and the house was gorgeous, but it wasn’t a stellar tour.

This house is absolutely gorgeous and it's well-maintained. While the docent was both nice and well-read, I found the many ghost stories on the tour tacky. Lots of people like that stuff, I guess, but I find it boring and silly. Would much rather learn about the design and construction of the house. This house also has original window panes, which is pretty fantastic!