Flavel House Museum

I wish I could’ve lived during the time when homes were built like this. And I am happy the city preserved this building. It was definitely worth the money and self-​guided tour just to look inside this house. It also has a 12 minute video about the history of the owners and the building. Definitely recommend this for a visit !!

Opened the door to see what it was (a museum of Astoria or just an old house that is well-​kept) and was rudely greeted by «Diane.» My husband, his elderly mother and I wanted to know what it was (no, not «free» tour around, we just see what type of museum: either a historic house and that’s all, or a more historical museum of the town with displays and artifacts) before we purchased tickets.
When I said we hadn’t bought tickets yet she grabbed me by the shoulder, turned me toward the door and barked at me to leave. I was shocked how rude she was and told her exactly that, «I cannot believe how rude you are and that you put your hands on me.» She said, «I deal with you people trying to get in without paying!» I told her we had not intended to go on, but wanted to know what the museum actually offered and asked where the information was. Her response was to shut the door in my face. My elderly mother-​in-​law (who wanted to do the tour) was shocked.
When I opened the door again to take her pic, she came running (literally running) and slammed the door in my face again. Needless to say, we didn’t buy tickets for fear of what Diane may do next!
Perhaps some more friendly greeters are in order for such a seemingly beautiful place.

Enjoyed the museum and history, though the historical host… Well, she was kinda cross, didn’t have a sense of humor and was quick to make everyone feel as unwelcome as possible.
She made me feel like I was stepping into a horror movie… And everyone knows… The minority always does 1^st…

Beautiful home!!! Take the tour its worth it, and lots of pictures. Great gift shop!!’ I would definitely love to come back.

Great self guided tour for $ 6! Photo taking is welcome, just no flash. Go to the gift shop and watch the free video first, it helps to understand and appreciate the history more.

Museum is lovely but the hostesses need training. We arrive at the front door and hostess says to my husband, «I need your ticket’.’
He says «My wife has my ticket.»
I am still slightly outside by my friend is inside, and she clearly assumed she (my friend) is me! Hostess then says «Well it doesn’t look like your wife has it either.»
How rude! then I walk in and she demands my ticket.
I Open my purse and begin to look, first finding my husband’s. I attempt to hand it to him and she grabs it out of my hand saying «That is for me.»
Invading my personal space was not alright. She was rude to my friends as well. Then she asked if we saw the movie. We had not yet as a group, but my husband and I had come before, so we had. Today, due to the Gooniefest, we first went to the museum next door.
She castigated us as «most” people see the movie first and you won’t understand and on and on … It was demeaning and completely ruined the experience. The place is lovely but the people need to learn how lo treat guests.
The little cards that you fill out are pretty useless. Instead of reading it off like a calling card, both times I’ve been there they just threw them on the tray and launched into all the do nots… It would be better to be welcoming first, tell the do’s then the «but please refrain from…»
Beautiful home, terrible hostesses.

Was a very interested old mansion built by a historical member of astoria. To get your tickets you must first go to the old carriage storage barn. Upon arrival there is a video on the history of capitan flavel and the house. Once the movie is done you head down to the house. Once in the house their are many rooms to look in. They have some of the orignal furniture and art work. Defiantly felt like I was stepping back in time. If you are interested in old historical houses this is a good place to stop.

I was looking forward to seeing the inside of this beautiful building but unfortunately we didn’t time things right and by the time we walked around the block to the ticket house we were 6 (6!!!) minutes past their entrance deadline of 3:30. This was probably my one and only time in Astoria so it didn’t leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling that the ticket attendant was so rigid with the time. Luckily The Buoy Beer Co. was not far away!

Interesting old mansion and history. The lady who showed us around the house was very sweet.

We stopped here upon arriving to Astoria. This is one cool house and the Historical Society has done a great job of keeping the history going! Watched the video before we did the walkthrough to better understand the history. Pretty cool what one guy can do given motivation and the opportunity!
The interior of the house is even cooler than the outside, there is some serious detail throughout. Make sure to check out the door hinges on the first floor, seriously. I love old houses like this. You never see that much detail in construction anymore.

Second tour here. Self guided, two levels, easy to do in about an hour’s time. Very good written history throughout, so take your time reading all the information in the rooms. Grand hallways, so easy to navigate. Only one large flight of stairs. The structure is all original, from the windows, floors, and bathrooms. But all the furniture is not akin to the original house. Wallpaper is recreated as well, as to reflect the original. Admission is only $ 7, so it’s worth it.

I love Victorian Houses. I mean, I am not just one of those girls who says «Oh yeah they are pretty’ when I say this. I mean, I LOVE VICTORIAN HOUSES. Put me in a town full of them and I transform into Tour Guide Erica, dragging your butt around to show you why this one is not a Gothic style but an Italianate Style and how No, that is not authentic Victorian, they just threw up some Lattice on a 1993 house and called it Victorian in the real estate ad (grrr) to make more money.
So I had to visit the famed and spectacular Flavel House. No trip was to be complete without it. My boyfriend got off lucky I did not march up to the inhabited Victorian homes in the area and ask to see their crown moldings (I did this once when I was younger and bolder)
it was everything I could have asked for and more. The tour starts in the gift shop (!!) where you get a historical video on the house and the Flavels. Then you walk up to the big house and start the self guided tour. There is a guide at the front door who offers you a map which tells you about the plants outside. You can only go so far into most of the rooms and you may not take flash photos. The furniture is authentic and just as beautiful as the home. it’s a bit odd to see how most of the furniture was rather plain. They had a grand living room and the spectacular velvet couches but the children’s rooms were basic wooden beds and toys. I was also surprised to see a metal tub embedded in the floor and NOT a clawfoot. it did look much more ornate that way but not what I was expecting. Overall everything was so gorgeous and I was so pleased at all the interesting facts pinned to various objects and rooms. Outside there was a huge 100+ old tree that was magnificent on its own.
After walking around the house for about an hour (I had to do every room twice and be sure to photograph the tiles and engravings in the woodwork for future house plans) we went back to the gift shop and I think I shocked the elderly woman working there with my basket full of purchases. We picked up some additional historical brochures on the place and got to see the sleigh and photos of the Flavel family.
Will absolutely visit again any and every time I am in Astoria. And so should everyone else. Go and visit a home where people spent YEARS building and changing it and there was no detail overlooked. The people who built this home put their soul into it and it truly shows in the architecture.

Historic home in fantastic condition. Sure, there’s not much from Flavel’s time which is a mystery, but his story is worth knowing, as well as his role in the development of the area.
The house itself takes a good half hour to see, and you want to pay attention to the artifacts. The docents are friendly, and even the gift shop has some OK stuff.

!
This is one of the most beautiful homes I’ve seen. I have a thing for old homes, but this one is even better than many. The tours are highly recommended; the volunteers know a lot about the history of this place and I absolutely love visiting and revisiting this place.

Museums are really not my thing, unless it’s a museum of 80’s video games or computers I don’t usually find a lot of interest in these things.
Flavel House is an exception. This house is the former residence of Captain George Flavel, a great 19^th century Astorian entrepreneur who built this magnificent mansion and was only able to enjoy it for the last 8 years of his life.
For 6 bucks you can browse this old house and get a sense of it’s history and try to imagine life in the 1900’s.
The downside is there is no access to the attic or the basement. It would have been neat to see some of the less glamorous underbelly of the house but otherwise still worth while to check out.

I wish we had more time so we could have gone in, but we drove to it, took some fun pictures while walking around it & really hope to return soon and experience the inside and learn more of the history!

Nope; didn’t ever go to the Goonies house, but did come and marvel at this former Captain’s former residence that sits atop the hill with sweeping view of Astoria and the OR/​WA divide.
Small little fee gets you in to view a slice of seafaring OR history. Former carriage house no more! If one likes Alameda, CA, this is the ticket for you!

Took a tour of this old style victorian recently. Its nice to see how the rich lived over a hundred years ago. Very attractive layout, quiet and slightly mysterious like the city of Astoria. Woirth the price of admision if you like history.

Beautiful, amazingly maintained historical home. There isn’t a ton to see, just a few floors. But the whole thing is beautiful and the history of the Flavel family is really cool. Definitely check out the film they show in the gift shop first though, it’s a must see!

Not the greatest old house I’ve ever had the chance to walk through, but it was ok. It was only $ 5 to go in (which is half of the Maritime Museum) but in order to buy the tickets you have to make your way to the carriage house. Why patrons can’t just pay at the door, I’m not sure.
So we headed over and bought tickets. The woman selling them suggested (strongly) that we watch a 12 min video before looking at the house, but considering that I had a meeting to get to soon, we skipped it. Bad idea, apparently.
When we got over to the Flavel house a lady who looked like she could have been a ghost greeted us with less than a smile. She immediately inquired about whether we had seen the video and when we told her no, she sighed and said, «Oh, it gives you SO much information.» She seemed really disappointed that we didn’t watch the dumb movie. I mean, REALLY disappointed and annoyed.
Anyway, the house itself was ok. It felt kind of spooky and that was pretty cool. I tried to imagine what it would be like to live in this time period and it seemed like it would be weird. The only bad thing about the house is that you can’t go up to the attic because it’s not safe, apparently. The staircase begs to be taken up another flight though, so we toyed with the idea of breaking the rules. We didn’t.