A lovely tour with knowledgeable tour guides. It rivals the Newport, RI tours! Be sure to check out the B&B next door (son's house) for a self guided tour. And it is reasonably priced.
Well maintained mansion of one of the richest men of the time. Tour guide very knowledgeable, no photos allowed.
This is a great piece of local history--and I found the story behind the mansion, and of Asa Packer, quite interesting. It is an easy and inexpensive tour, and a must-do for your visit to Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
This was actually my third visit to this mansion built by the railroad magnate, Asa Packer. After building boats to transport coal on the Lehigh Canal to Philadelphia, he built a railroad for a speedier delivery of the "black gold". Mr. Packer built his home on the hill above Jim Thorpe (then called Mauch Chunk) in 1861. It is a fun tour sparking the imagination of what it would be like to live there. Along with his son's mansion on the hill, they stand as perfect examples of Victorian Splendor and add a magical touch to this wonderful town.
The tour guide was terrific ! She brought the old house alive. Quite an old house with some unique history !
The mansions is worth your time. They have wine and limited food on certain days and it is nice to sit on the carved stone porch and speculate what the other half lived like.
We found it very interesting and informative learning about the Packer family and seeing all the original furniture and items they owned.
We visited the Asa Packer Mansion while staying near Jim Thorpe. The mansion is very ornate and the tour was very interesting. It was well worth the walk up the steep hill. The view of Jim Thorpe from the mansion grounds was beautiful. The Packers built the mansion next door as well. The outside of that mansion was used as a model for Disney World's Haunted Mansion ride.
closed for the season i guess... website said it was open, even called and no one answered the phone. wanted to visit this place, but couldn't. found other things to do.
Must see. Historical. Enjoy while getting wealth of knowledge.There is lot to learn from the mention. You can feel the thought process of people from 125 years back.