Hay House

We took a tour of the Hay House with the fabulous guide Deborah. The house is gorgeous with many ingenious features such as running water (before the White House had that) and a cooling and warming system. The way Deborah spoke about the house and everything it made the tour more special. In the summer I do recommend to take the tour as early as possible (first ions is at 10AM) due to the heat.

Beautiful. It was great to see the detail and work put into building the home and restoring it. The tour guide was wonderful. So knowledgeable. She could answer every question with ease and made us feel comfortable. It was also nice to learn the history of the city. Definitely worth experiencing

This is a beautiful place to visit, amazing architecture, gorgeous details. GPS gave terrible directions, but we figured it out. The tour guide was very good, extremely happy we went.

The Hay House is must visit for anyone interested in Architecture/design and historical significance. The techniques used to create the textured walls,  wood detailing and curved pocket doors, windows and hidden passage ways are unique and truly remarkable. In addition the ventilation system created by strategically placed vents made it possible to store foods and wine throughout the year. The venting also helped cool the home in summer months. The home has many surprises that are fun to learn about. Macon Ga. has a lot to offer and the Hay House is one of its many treasures.

Lovely at Christmas time. It was a great date night. A blast from the past as if visiting my great grandparents again.

My friends and I attended the Christmas luncheon in December. It was a lovely event with live music. Afterward, we took a tour of the home. It's magnificent and beautiful restored. We enjoyed hearing all the stories about the home, and the owners from the staff. This place is definitely worth a visit.

One of the absolute best tours we have ever had. The extremely knowledgeable lady that took us through the house was a gifted storyteller. She had stories for every room that were funny and informative. The house was fantastic as well, very amazing rooms throughout the home that will definitely wow you. But without the tour guide it would have been no where near as impactful! We went on the 1pm tour 5/13/23 highly recommended the visit

An unforgettable visit — especially thanks to Deborah! Our visit to Hay House was absolutely wonderful, and a big part of that was thanks to Deborah, our tour guide. She led the tour in such an engaging way that even my six-year-old children were fully captivated — and that’s no easy task! Her storytelling, warmth, and energy truly brought the house to life. And the house itself… it’s breathtaking. The moment you step inside, it literally takes your breath away. A true architectural and historical gem. We’ll definitely be back in the winter when all the floors are open and the house is decorated for Christmas — we’re sure it will be magical!

If you visit Macon, you must stop and tour this impressive home! I was so happy to get to hear about the history and see the stunning interior. Many items are original. You can pay a few dollars more to go to the very top (4 flights up) and I highly recommend that for a nice view of the city.

Hay House is beautiful, and we had a wonderful docent lead our tour. Deborah Goss was knowledgeable and personable, and it was a pleasure to be on her tour. Georgia Trust is lucky to have skilled docents such as her! Highly recommend...

hay House provides books in many areas of inspiration and self-help. If you browse the offerings, you will undoubtedly find some thing you will be interested in and will help you improve.

A hidden gem in Macon Georgia. got to tour it all alone. what a massive piece of history. to imagine what it was like at Hay House decades before all the development. also ask about the neighboring vampire. it's possible one of the owners had a secret gay lover

A lovely home. The tour guide was cheerful, and shared the interesting stories of the three families that lived in this beautiful home. Truly it was worth the stop!

A beautiful house and a great tribute to a storied piece of Macon history. There is parking along the street in front of the house and some, limited, parking in a small lot behind the house. You enter through the back of the house (not the street side). This may look like a 3 story house but it is actually 7 stories with lots of extras. Tours usually start on the hour and are provided by a knowledgeable person on the history of the house. If you come early, you can pay and look around the first floor where there is a wealth of information, china, a gift shop, and displays of the various rooms and items. The tour takes you to the upper 2 floors and then the tour guide asks if you are willing to pay $5/person to see the upper floors. It is well worth it. They are updating most of the rooms in the house but the rooms that they have already restored are wonderful. They have faux wainscotting that looks real, large round pocket doors, curved tiffany windows that move up and down, and lots of other beautiful and unique features. The whole house is beautiful and the tour is fascinating. It tells the history of the house and the area through the eye of the owners and parts of their houses. The entire tour takes about 1.5 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire tour and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the area.

Incredibly kind staff! I was out for a walk with my baby when we got very hot and they allowed me to come inside and cool off. Who knew what an incredible historic site was talked along the narrow streets of Macon! This house has so much character, and as you make your way around the back entrance, you'll be greeted by a lovely water feature providing shade and rest in the hot summer. Next time I'm going to have to come without my stroller so we can see the place more fully. I'm very excited for ournext visit.

One of the best tours I've ever been on - this place is charming, full of history, and was an awesome experience. If you're in Macon, Hay House (with $12 pp tour) is a must see because: 1. It's extremely beautiful: the house is incredibly impressive from the architecture to how technologically advanced it was for its time. Every twist and turn - from the rooms to staircase to cupola - is gorgeous. 2. Awesome people and storytelling: the docents are extremely knowledgeable, genteel, and passionate about what they do. Many are Macon natives who grew up admiring the house. The curation is second to none - highly engaging and informative - and recommended. The info and history are not as easy to digest if you just read the inscriptions in the house as they're not laid out in chronological order like the British Museum for instance. 3. Unique history: this is one of few nicely preserved antebellum houses and you're in the best place to see it.

Just had the pleasure of getting a private tour today at the Hay House and it was so worth it. Erin was so sweet and knowledgeable. I was lucky to have two tour guides, I didn't catch the other kind lady's name. The best time to visit is now since the house is all decorated for the holidays. Great recommendation from my brother-in-law. Will be bringing my family here again in the future.

This house is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!! Lots of characters and definitely worth visiting when in Macon GA area! Our tour guy, William, is very knowledgeable and very detailed oriented! He was also funny when it came to the topic about ghost. I'm surprise the elevator works. I rode down the elevator. Definitely must purchase their yummy peach cookies at the gift shop. Definitely will be back!

So interesting and detailed house. Built with details and "niceties" in mind! Deborah is an excellent tour guide answering all questions and extremely knowledgeable on this house! A must if you are in the atra

If you have a spare time in Macon, the Hay House is worth a visit. Jeremy gave a great 1 hour tour of the well preserved antebellum house. Every room of the house is well preserved and furnished with decor either original to the house or representative of the late 19th century. The design of the heating and cooling system, suspended pantry, and communication tube throughout the house seems very advanced given the era.

Super cool tour. We lucked out and got a great tour guide, Marci, who was super attentive and provided great insight and historical references. The house is magnificent. It is really neat to see the stages of restoration. The design was well planned. If you get the chance I highly recommend paying the extra $4.00 to go up to the cupola and see down town from that vantage point.

We all agree we had the most wonderful tour guide of any tour we've ever had. She was so conscientious and knowledable. A fantastic tour!

We had a great tour of the house. Our tour guide, Eliot, was so insightful and a genuinely nice person. We loved all the distinct features that made up the beautiful features of the house. The lion entrance doors was amazing and the stained glass window in the dinning room was beautiful!!! A natural treasure, so happy we got to tour.

Great tour guide. Go when it's cool or fall and spring. Only first floor has AC. Beautiful architectural illusions. Amazing amenities for the time and a lot of function. Great family day. Then went to the Rookery for lunch.

A great tour by a lovely young lady who was amazingly smart and so very helpful! The house is beautiful and I can't wait to see how it looks after the renovation on the top floor. Would also love to see if at Christmas!

Genre : Museum meets This Old House. This was a pretty fascinating tour that literally changed my view of Macon and its history. Feel : Since not all of the seven levels are available for tour year-round, we were actually only taken through the basement, first, and second floors. The basement did have more of a museum feel - there were some renovations being done, and there were information boards on the wall; plus, this is where gifts were sold - but the first floor felt very much like a house that is just not occupied year-round, but still lived in. The second floor felt much more old and less well-preserved. Indeed, there was peeling paint and missing tiles. Hardly a put-off, though, it actually made the house much more interesting & left something to the imagination. You get the feeling that the rest of the floors are equally or even less "home-y". Tour : The tour guide was very knowledgable and actually pretty funny. In fact, he was super-kind, offering us a shorter, private version of the tour since we'd come in without knowing that they start on the hour. Just so you know, they start on the hour. There are so many interesting things to see and tidbits of information to glean. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you try to go on a sunny afternoon so you can fully experience those beautiful stained-glass windows. Regardless, this was one of the most technologically advanced houses of its time; if you appreciate history at all, you'll enjoy taking the walk through this house. Price : I read the review that said this wasn't worth the price, and it nearly made jump out of my seat and yell at my computer. This tour is variably priced (children 6 and under are free) and under $10. There is honestly little room for disappointment. Kids : There's plenty to look at. If your child under the age of 6 is anything less than a wallo-bouncer, you should be fine. There's plenty to look at, and chances are that they won't break anything. Bottom Line : Go. The tour is interesting, and once you're done, you realize that you're in a pretty interesting part of the city. Personally, it prompted me to take a drive around and enjoy the other old buildings in the area; not to mention that Mercer University Law School is right across the street. Information is here : http://www.georgiatrust.org/historic_sites/hayhouse/ : including a number to call for reservations on the 'Behind The Scenes' tour, where you'll see the entire house (I know I'd like to). Enjoy!

People interested in Antebellum living will jump at the chance to see Macon's most famous residence. The Hay House was once the cornerstone of Macon high society, and this tour offer a glimpse of how the other half lived. As someone that grew up learning about the great Civil War battles in Georgia, living near the Road to Tara, it was very interesting. Additionally, it was interesting to see how in the aftermath of the Civil War, the wealthy families of the south struggled to maintain their lifestyles in the changing southern economy. If you are not interested in this era of history or the history of Middle Georgia, this tour is really a waste of time. The tour grants visitors little more than an oral history of the construction, usage, and preservation of this southern home.

Gorgeous Renaissance Revival mansion in Macon. It was extremely high tech for its time. Great tour guide (young lady). Macon was spared during the war of northern aggression because the northerners were on the other side of the river and chose not to cross it.

we took a tour of this beautiful house and i was in awe. the architecture was definitely progressive for the time period. our tour guide Elliot was so informative as passionate!

This was definitely an innovative for it's time house with plenty of unique features. There was much to learn. However, the tour guide seemed disinterested and rushed. Also, the top floors were being renovated when we were there so while we could look there wasn't much to see on those. For the cost of the tour with the renovation it seemed overpriced.

Too many people on a tour. Don't tour in the summer. The house has no air conditioning. The house is big and very ornate. But needs a lot of work.

Overpriced tour to view the main floor and mostly unrestored second floor of the Hay House. It was 1 May and Billie (our tour guide) said it was too hot to tour the third story. Poorly presented tour - save your money. Gift shop was also poorly merchandised.

Every community has that place that makes sou stop and say " Wow!" For Macon, this is that place. I especially liked the fact that it wasn't picture-perfect, leaving my imagination to wander and wonder just a tad. Fantastic piece of historic architecture and good solid tourist experience that I believe will just get better with time.

We had a very good tour guide here. The house is very much in the process of restoration but what they have finished is great. We learned alot here and would recomend this tour to others. We bought a ticket for 3 tours and thought it was a good value

The Hay House is an absolutely breath taking example of Southern architecture. Our tour guide, Katie, took us on a very interesting and informative tour of the first 3 levels of the home. It was truly amazing to visit what was considered one of the most technologically advanced homes built in America during the 1850s.