The house in which the Taft Museum of Art lies was first built for Martin Baum in 1820 and is the oldest local domestic wooden structure. The Federal style, copper roofed building was also home to several others over the years, including the Taft family from 1873. In 1927, the Tafts bequeathed their historic home and private collection of some 700 artworks to the city, and the museum opened its doors five years later. Today, it is considered one of the finest small art museums in the US.

Deemed a National Historic Landmark due to the magnificent murals on the walls by the African-American landscape painter, Robert S. Duncanson, the Taft Museum holds many important pieces in its eclectic collection.  Here you will European old master paintings by artists such as Adriaen van Ostede, rubbing shoulders with 19^th century American paintings. The house’s galleries are filled with Limoges enamels, Chinese porcelains, sculptures, European decorative arts and more. Important works in the collection include Song of the Talking Wire (Herny Farny, 1904), Portrait of a Man Rising from his Chair (Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633) and Portrait of Mr. Taft (Joaquin Sorolla, 1909).