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55 reviews
Shelton McMurphey Johnson House is a 7,000 square foot Victorian House that is owned by the City of Eugene and operated as a museum by Shelton McMurphey Johnson Associates.
The Museum was opened in 1994 with just one floor available for viewing by the public. Now open 6 days a week and furnished on all three floors, the Museum is a beautiful example of what life might have looked like in the 1930s for the Shelton McMurphey Family.
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we did the steampunk tea at SMJ house in eugene. there were several small tables set up for parties of 2, 3 or 4 and based on your reservation they seated you with the rest of your party. there were 3 different sets of 'nibbles' accompanied by a different tea each time. tea and a chocolate came first, followed by another kind of tea and small crustless sandwiches which were then followed by scones. it was quite a delightful experience and it seems like based on previous reviews they have improved at serving several people at the same time. afterwards if you choose, you get a tour of the house with a bit of family history. several people dressed up including some of the wait people and there was live music on a beautiful harp. as said above it was a delightful experience.
Tried to visit with a group of 6 on a Saturday. Everything online says Open but when you get to the door a sign says “closed for private event”. Someone answered door stating they will be closed until Tuesday. We will be gone Monday had we known we might have attempted to visit yesterday (Friday). If you care at all about people who want to come see this house: post your closures online it’s not that hard, we don’t live in the 1800s anymore. Just be a tiny bit respectful of your patrons time please.
I visited in July 2022: I was rather disappointed as I love visiting old Victorian mansions. However, the official website fails to inform that 1) the exterior of the house is under repair and is hidden by scaffolding, 2) some of the rooms are a mix of furniture/replica decor and boxes that belong in storage rooms (it feels like as if the restoration was never finished). I tried to enjoy the best I could by looking at some of the athletics-related memorabilia and old newspapers. Overall, I was rather displeased with the way the house is presented: management needs to clean up the various rooms of the storage junk! My recommendation would be to call before going to make sure you can at least enjoy the exterior architecture.
The exterior of the house is under construction (June 2022), so it's surrounded by scaffolding and netting. The interior, however, is very cool. Very interesting history with good descriptions throughout the home. We stayed next door at the Campbell Inn B&B, which shares some history with this property.
I usually photograph and blog the Castle on the Hill Every Year, However it always seemed I could never catch the time when the inside was open, Today was was almost not the day, I rang the bell and they answered but told me they were closing at 100PM I asked what time it was she said 1245 so I enquired about the next time they open because I photograph and blog this building every year and I have never been able to connect the inside. She informed me when the next time was and a voice from up above shouted down and said let him in, he can see the inside I thanked the person that let me in and I thanked the voice and I walked around and checked it out was very interesting learned more today than I have ever heard about the castle on the hill Its really worth coming and checking it out and seeing the inside. I did not want them to stay too late past their time so I do need to go back and look at the display cases a little closer when I have more time Check it out its cool lots of rooms and history
