Although little remains of the historic homes in downtown St. Louis after the fire of 1849 and vast demolish to create industrial buildings, the Field House Museum provides visitors with the opportunity to see a home built in 1845. The home is located in the Downtown neighborhood and consists of the home, as well as an attached museum. The house was home to the Field family – Roswell Field represented Dred Scott during the Dred Scott case and his son Eugene Field was a famous author. The museum is a modern one-story building, while the Field House is a three-story beautiful brick structure. There is a nice court yard surrounding the home, providing a natural setting in the heart of downtown.

Visitors can go on a tour of the house to see the architecture and some period pieces. Additionally, there are several permanent and rotating exhibits for visitors to explore. When we visited we were able to make a reservation and saw the house decorated for Christmas, the Life in Miniature exhibit that focuses on miniature homes, the Steiff exhibit that showed the development of the Steiff teddy bear, the Black Children’s Literature exhibit, and an exhibit highlighting Eugene Field’s works. The tour focused little on Russell or Eugene’s life and more highlighted particular pieces in the home of interest. We were at the house for about an hour and really feel like we saw it, making for a great low-key activity. The museum also offers events throughout the year, such as speakers creating a variety of opportunities to explore further with the museum. Both of us agreed we would like to learn more about Russell Field and Eugene Field after visiting their home and enjoyed the opportunity to explore a historic home.