Locust Grove

Had a great visit to Locust Grove. My tour guide, Dave, was very knowledgeable and well spoken- he taught me things I didn’t know about the family, house, and historic life. The grounds are also absolutely beautiful. Definitely worth a visit!

I had my wedding at Locust Grove in October 2025. It was the best decision I made regarding my wedding day. It was beautiful, everything went so smoothly & I was very happy with the staff including Sarah the event coordinator & Jessica the owner. We did buy some things to make it look wedding ready like string lights & curtains but just the venue itself & surrounding nature is beautiful.

It was a beautiful place to walk and enjoy a little bit of history while walking with our dog. We decided to come to Louisville this weekend with our dog and there aren't many places dog friendly but this was one of them advertised as if if don't go inside the buildings. The premises are so wide and beautiful that you can enjoy still a nice stroll with your fur baby and learn about the history of the place. It's well-maintained, too. Unfortunately, they kept the bathrooms locked.

We were in town for our daughter’s graduation and happened to find Locust Grove’s 60s holiday tour. We enjoyed the tour. It was fun to see Christmas decor that I recognized from my grandparents house when I was growing up. The information was interesting along with the connections to US history and individuals from history.

I visited for the first time today. I was speechless it was so breathtaking. Our tour guide was incredible. She has so much knowledge to share and never missed a beat. The grounds I don’t even know how to describe. Honestly walking along I could almost feel like I was back in the year 1790. There is also a museum and signs posted around the property at the different buildings and you can even get an audio tour on your phone of each site. Also there are walking trails. All in all I’ve never visited a more well-maintained, beautiful historical site. Thank you for all that you all do!

LG has a wonderful campus. Very well maintained and clean spaces. The indoor museum is super interesting. Really well done and the information is clear to read / understand . Similar to many southern museums, they were a little too positive about the whole enslavement situation. But it was better than some. The tour of the property was excellent. Very well kept and preserved. Each room in the main house was very interesting and properly staged. Our tour guide was one of the biggest highlights if not the biggest. His name was Dave, and he was the man. Knew his stuff, and was able to answer just about every question my group had. His involvement shows, with his love for the space. We were very happy to have gotten him as the guide. Thank you for the time!

The Audubon Room at Historic Locust Grove was the perfect venue for my mother’s celebration of life. The room itself was beautiful, and the surrounding grounds were absolutely stunning. Sarah Baker was incredibly accommodating and attentive to all of our needs, making the day feel smooth and supported. I’m truly grateful for such a warm and welcoming experience.

This is a beautiful spot for a garden wedding! There are a lot of background options throughout the garden for pretty pics and a gorgeous tree canopy along the pathway out to the gardens. The covered pavilion is a great spot for a covered outdoor reception area too it was a really big space!

It's been 10+ years since I last visited Locust Grove, so I was excited to recently, when I stopped by for their annual book sale fundraiser. First, what a beautiful spot! I only got to see a sliver of its many acres, but my blood pressure dropped just from driving up to its main building. And if you are a bibliophile, don't miss this annual book sale! The proceeds benefit Locust Grove, and it boasts an awesome, overflowing selection of used books. I got there right when it opened at 10 a.m., and by 10:15, everyone was shoulder to shoulder. I came away, though, with a box of books for my and my family, costing just $30. The volunteers were great too, taking everyone's stacks of books to set aside while they shopped for more. I would love to come back for a proper tour and to bring my kids. Can't believe this site is just 10 minutes from my house and that I haven't properly enjoyed it yet. I'm excited to learn more about it!

55 acres of history dating back to 1790. Beautifully preserved buildings house. Awesome visitor center with many items and souvenirs to remember a memory for a lifetime. Tours available call ahead. Take plenty of pics. Facilities indoor and outdoors for many rental occasions. Nestled on the hills a couple miles south of the Ohio river. Very clean facilities Well appointed walking sidewalks and grass trails lead to small crops once growing on the historic farm, builds are relatively close together.

Before heading out, we checked Locust Grove's website and it listed tour times with no indication that the main house was closed for installation of new HVAC. Nothing on their website made any indication that tours were not available. The house and museum are normally open Tuesday to Sunday in February but with the HVAC work, the house has been closed for two months (January and February). It is scheduled to reopen on MARCH 1st. Obviously, others must have known the house/museum was closed as we only saw 3 or 4 other non-staff visitors while we were there. That said, we did enjoy a 12 minute video presentation in the visitors center and did have a chance to see exhibits detailing the site's history - also in the visitors center. After the visitors center, we did a walking tour of the site and read all the signs explaining the purpose of each building. The walking tour was interesting. We need to return sometime after March 1st and actually get a tour of the main house and museum.

First time visiting. Delightful gift shop with an impressive selection of books. The staff were knowledgeable and helpful. Arrived in time to partake in a guided tour with Margaret. She is the best guide ever! Pleasant. Informative. Friendly. She entertained all of our questions and pointed out fun facts about the grounds too. I appreciated the sign that encouraged patrons to use the bathroom that reflected their preferred gender. I also appreciate that she referenced enslaved people vs slaves. The property is huge and full of stories of people free and not free. The bathrooms are clean and plentiful. My knowledge base is enhanced bc of Margaret. Lots of people were taking family photos on the grounds and we witnessed a wedding proposal! Without question, we'd def return.

Very interesting place. I love that you can do a self tour with explanations on an app. Beautiful grounds. The cashier in the shop was lovely and was gave us plenty of wonderful information. I bought myself some earrings. I learned something new about who George Rodgers Clark. Older brother of Wm. Clark (Lewis and Clark). A must see. June 1, 2023

My daughters and I visited this beautiful site yesterday afternoon and walked the grounds and checked out the scenery. It has a lot of history here and has many fun events to join in on different events. Their is a cool statue of George Rodgers Clark on the outside of the visitor center thats neat to see

I've always been a big fan of George Rogers Clark, a truly under appreciated hero of the founding of the US. It was nice to see that the place where he spent his last days is do nicely preserved. They have restored the mansion and several out buildings here and have retained enough land to give you a feel of what it was like in the day. It was owned by GRC's brother-in-law, himself a hero of the Revolution. Because of the prominence of these two, many historical figures of the "west" in those days passed through here. There is also a nice interpretive center. We enjoyed our visit here and are glad we made it part of our visit to Louisville.

Beautiful location!! Came for the gardening festival! They were prepared at the entrance for parking and the signs to get into the festival. The fest was in full swing, tons of great and new vendors. About 4 foods trucks and they had some musicians playing music. The location was beautiful, the plants and flowers on the grounds were just as beautiful. Besides the vendors, I loved touring the grounds and reading and seeing the history. My favorite was the history on distilling and hear about the history. Definitely want to come back for more events.

History and nature lovers, Locust Grove is for you! I don't know why it's taken me so long to visit Locust Grove. It is the embodiment of every thing I love: history and nature in a palpable setting. The main house has been lovingly restored. The tour guides will let you know about the special wallpapers and the efforts it took to achieve that shade of green paint on the walls. I especially enjoy the staging in the rooms. It is as if the occupants merely left the room for a moment. My favorite place on the property is the kitchen which is next to the main house. The guides have placed real fruits and vegetables on the tables. And somehow, the room is still infused with that lovely scent of smoked meats cooked over a wood fire. To me, this smell makes the kitchen the most tangible part of the house. The property is of course, within a grove of Locust trees. Everything was so green and lush on this rainy spring day. I can't wait to come back here to sit under the trees with a picnic basket.

Very pretty site! I wasn't there for long, just went to the book sale they were having and got a few books for pretty cheap which was nice because I'm a big reader. Would like to come back one day for a tour

Locust Grove holds a semiannual fundraising book sale which is worth checking out if you are interested in low-cost acquisitions. The vast majority of the goods are one dollar per paperback and two dollars per hardback. As with most of these types of events, one must delve deep to find the gems, but the tables are constantly replenished throughout the three-day sale. On Sunday, they cut the prices in half. Beyond dirt-cheap books, the coolest thing about this sale is the people watching. It's close quarters in there, and sifting through the merchandise requires bumping elbows, not to mention hips, shoulders, behinds, etc. I overheard two wizened hillbillies discussing their respective collections of "Bismarckiana" (I swear--their term) in the world history section. Come on, you can't make this stuff up. God bless America. The next sale is August 22 to 24, 2014.

History comes alive at Locust Grove -- and it's also a fun place to hang out when the weather's nice! Spurred on by an event posted by a fellow yelper, I took the time yesterday to prepare a nice picnic and head out to Locust Grove. Even though it was a steaming hot day, the shade of the large trees on the property made the perfect picnic spot to enjoy my BLT with tomatoes fresh from the garden. Nothing extraordinary, just a nice afternoon to take a breather and enjoy nature in the place where George Rogers Clark used to sit and listen for the steamboats on the Ohio River. I've been to Locust Grove many times before, and would also recommend the house tour if you're a first time visitor. It's fun to see and the tour guides are full of historical tidbits. If you have kids, the summer camps are a ton of fun -- I remember dipping to make my own candles and weaving baskets on the back porch of the main house. Memories of today, childhood, and times past are all alive and well at Locust Grove. I'm a fan!

This is my favorite slice of history in Louisville. They are so historically accurate and the building is so well preserved. Locust Grove is a must-see for anyone visiting Louisville.

The grounds of Locust Grove are great for a walk on a pretty day. It's a large property with grassy hills, gardens, and wooded spaces.Just lovely. The house and related buildings are cool. If you are into 18th/19th century architecture, clothing, tools, and domestic life, this is a good place to spend an afternoon. When they have events, they are typically great events. I've been to several. They have historical reenactors that impersonate the different members of the family that lived there, and they are at nearly every event. An example of an event is their annual Independence Day festival. That day, they have periodic tours, musicians, traditional games, and an hourly reading of the Declaration of Independence. They have a decent gift shop, and several spaces for meetings and classes. Great place.

I visited Locust Grove for the first time today to see the annual gardeners' fair and I had a lovely time. There were more than 20 tents there selling plants, tools, decorative wrought iron structures (some really affordable ones at that), garden furniture, preserves, soaps, honey, maple syrup--basically anything made from or to do with your garden. It turned out to be a beautiful day for it once the skies cleared this afternoon and the property was gorgeous. I didn't go inside the historic home as there was so much going on outside, but I know I have something extra to look forward to on my next visit. The fair lasts all weekend and they host a Mother's Day brunch on Sunday. Locust Grove also hosts the Jane Austen Society, a seasonal antiques market, and a lecture series on the first Wednesday of every month, among other interesting locally and historically related events.

We had our daughters wedding at Locust Grove on Sept. 22, 2018. Locust Grove was amazing. Jennifer J was so easy to work with and really acted as our event coordinator to make sure our vendors knew where to put things. She was a gem and life saver for our event. Unfortunately, it rained all day but she was out there putting straw down to help with mud and giving us advise on where to put things. At the end of the evening Natasha jumped right in there to help us get everything cleaned up and tore down. The location itself is beautiful and the price is so reasonable. We loved that you could bring in your own vendors. This allowed us to truly have the event we wanted. We would highly recommend Locust Grove for any event!!

I've been a repeat visitor to this site since moving to the area in 2013. My first visit was on a slow day and we wound up on a nearly private tour with a volunteer guide who'd been there nearly 30 years and had a star on her name badge to indicate that she'd given something like 10,000 tours. No, seriously. She was amazing and answered every question I had with a staggering wealth of incredibly rich and varied knowledge. As such, she set the bar for my repeat visits exceedingly high and I can say that, though I'm not sure that any Locust Grove guide I'll ever have again will be able to match the exquisite job she did (10,000 tours, y'all!!), they all seem to share her passion and have all done exceptional jobs telling the story of this important historic site. So, if you're looking for a taste of Louisville's history, this is definitely a don't-miss. I promise you, you won't be sorry!

Well preserved home. Lackluster staff and grounds. This well preserved brick home is one of the first of it's kind in the Kentucky wilderness, and played host to a number of famous Americans including a few presidents, Lewis and Clark as well as the painter John James Audubon. That being said, try to come on a day they are hosting an event, or (like we did) take advantage of online deals to see the place. I understand this is a city run site, but the staffing was awkward and the grounds partially overgrown. I really hope they were volunteers, or having an off day on the Saturday we visited. The guide for the house was stale, and what little info he said about one room, he repeated with some variety for all the other rooms. Very little information on the importance of the house, or about early 19th century life. I understand the vast funding differences, and the reflection in ticket prices, though touring any larger site, such as Hermitage in Nashville and see the marked difference in quality of staffing and preservation. Again, maybe it was an off day (we visited on a Saturday in late September) but I hope it isn't their usual for awkward hosts and guides. If you give a tour of a historic home, please don't become bore or frustrated half way through. They have a small museum with a few artifacts, and an attempt at hands on items for kids. Check it out.

Very serene and scenic location preserved quite nicely. Apparently the space ca be rented for special events, which is why I was there. A walk through of the home was insightful, but the highlight of this historical location is nature itself. Since I live in Florida, being able to see colored trees in the fall was a real treat. The gift shop has selections of teas, period trinkets and gifts, and customizable jewelry pieces.

Old historic home. I was the only one on the tour which was nice. Tour guide was very informative and had a lot of knowledge of the history. I saw this driving by and I am glad I stopped, as I love history

Neat place! We visited for a Revolutionary War reenactment and had a great time. Not sure it'd be quite as fun if nothing else was going on. The house was interesting historically, but otherwise not much of a draw. Keep an eye open for events at the estate and then go to get the most bang for your buck.

Beautiful grounds, historic home and a museum with gift store that has all kinds of cute things. This is truly a Louisville gem that more people need to see!

My wedding was held at Locust Grove last September and it was beautiful. I had the ceremony between the garden quadrants, facing the historic home and the reception was under a tent in the field. The grounds are always beautiful and well kept. All of my guests had a great time. The bathroom facilities are very easy to get to & when the museum is open, it's great! My only complaint was that I still haven't received my security deposit. We received a letter in the mail about a month after the wedding to tell us that it was on the way but, alas, 7 months later it has never arrived.

I went to Locust Grove on Friday July 18th while preparations for the Jane Austen festival were going on with my mom and sisters. We drove 40 minutes to get there and were not happy to find out that we couldn't get a tour of the house with our cultural passes. We were initially waited on by a woman named Joan whose badge said she was a volunteer. She told us that there were no afternoon tours because of the festival and she said that on the website it says that tours for Cultural Passes are only given at 10:15 and 11:15. We weren't offered any map of the area until another worker came up and offered it. This other worker told us that we could walk around on a "self guided tour". She wasn't even going to punch the Cultural Passes. We walked around the area and I decided to look at the website and it says "We encourage you to visit on Monday-Friday, for our 10:15 and 11:15 tours." NO WHERE does it say that tours won't be given after those times for those with Cultural Passes. They need to put that there will be no tours after those times for Cultural Pass holders on their website instead of saying that there is a " more limited experience". As we were walking back to the front, we see people on a tour going into the house. We were told there were going to be NO afternoon tours because of festival preparations. The woman who initially waited on us kept telling us how busy they get when people use the passes and how busy they were because of the festival making us feel like we were burdens. This is a beautiful historic home. It is a shame to have such stuck up workers representing it. I wrote a letter explaining the situation and got a very rude response. The letter was very insincere and was once again blaming us for what happened. They then tried to make themselves look better by blaming other businesses for having a "more restricted" Cultural Pass experience, but I've been to the places that they said were "more restricted" and those businesses had everything clearly stated on the Cultural Pass AND on their website. They had their restrictions CLEARLY stated unlike Locust Grove. I also wrote a Trip Advisor review. They responded to the Trip Advisor review and LIED saying that they told us to not have our Cultural Passes punched, so we could come back later. They said NOTHING relating to that. Funny thing is that their response on Trip Advisor was much more polite than the letter I received. Why you may ask? It is because their response is made public, so they wanted to make themselves look better. Their response tried pinning the fault upon my family and me once again. They remembered my mom's complaint, the one she made before we left, and they keep thinking that I was the one that complained that day, but I wasn't. It was my mom. They kept saying how they offered me free passes to come back and I rejected them, but they didn't offer me squat. They offered my mom those things. I CLEARLY wrote in my letter and reviews that my MOM and sisters accompanied me. Once again Locust Grove failed to actually read what I was saying. They think that the letter and reviews are from my mom, but they aren't. They didn't read the letter or review thoroughly and they said that they would try to make changes to prevent this from happening in the future, but I don't believe that for one second. They are just saying what they think I want to hear. They don't even deserve one star.