Fairfax House

A hidden gem in York, it is absolutely one of the most beautiful Georgian townhouse I have ever seen. The detail to every room and space is immaculate and you can be easily absorbed with the architecture, decoration techniques, furniture and cosiness. Clifford Tower is just around the corner.

This was a delightful museum. I went with my three kids aged 13, 10 & 2 and we all had a great time. The displays are beautiful especially if you're a Regency fan. The history is interesting and the docents are lovely. My kids enjoyed the mouse trail and dressing up in period clothes. Highly recommend a stop!

This is one of the best examples of a Georgian house I have seen. The ceilings are amazing and the rooms are beautifully decorated. The room guides are very friendly and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend a visit.

You must visit Fairfax house whilst in York. It isnt expensive and under 16s go free, you can also get a 12 month pass for no extra charge. There are several rooms to see and they are all beautiful with lots to see in each. All the staff are really friendly and the room guides are so talkative and give you lots of information about the house. It took me around 45 mins to go round. Will definitely be going back for Christmas.

Lovely, compact historic house. Beautifully furnished and beautifully decorated for Christmas at the time of our visit. Friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers will happily give more information if wanted, without being overbearing.

Nice to see a restored Georgian townhouse. The size and decor was impressive, giving as an insight into the life of a well to do household in that period.

It's a pretty small but amazingly decorated lovely Georgian house with a rich history and beautiful ceilings.

We decided to visit because it was raining, to be brutally honest and we’re so glad we did! Beautifully detailed Georgian townhouse with a lot of information on the families that lived or interacted with. Plenty of audio visual and signage and knowledgeable and very friendly staff (we had a 6yo child with us who remained interested throughout). Couldn’t recommend more

Fairfax House is supposedly the finest Georgian townhouse in England. The house is owned by York Civic Trust who carried out major restoration work in the 1980s. it has quite a few events through the year, is open to the public and houses the Noel Terry Collection of English Furniture and Clocks. The house was built in 1762 as a dowry for Anne Fairfax, the only (surviving) child of Viscount Fairfax who got York's most distinguished architect, John Carr, to design the interior. The Great Staircase is a magnificent with its exquisite Venetian Window, wrought iron and decorative plasterwork. There are ceramics, silverware and paintings plus interesting household objects of the time like a linen press. It also has rooms available for hire. Not immensely exciting but worth a visit if in York.

A bit of a gem! We just happened to see Fairfax House on our way to somewhere else, and we stepped in. It's only 6 pounds for an adult, and you really get a feel for what it was like to live as an aristocrat in a Georgian home. Friendly volunteers are stationed throughout the house offering an excellent level of historical detail and their own color commentary, complete with pithy British humor. Better than visiting castle or a palace, as you can get very close to all of the displays. No velvet ropes here! Also features a beautiful gift shop in which we bought a lovely antique teapot. Highly recommended!