"The House that Love Built"
It's one of those old (1810c) guy wins lottery, hooks up with a hot pre Victorian era babe, secretly builds a mansion for her, takes her out for a buggy ride for a nice day in the country to finally show her all his efforts, spring THE question, only to be laughed at kind of stories.
Who hasn't been there once or twice before?
Hearthside is an amazing 10 room mansion turned museum that spans the early 19th century to the late 20th century with each room displaying a different period of Rhode Island / New England history. It's right there at Chase Farm on the Great Road where at one time it was all connected as a single property. In fact the Great Road itself is worth the trip since it's one of the oldest and historically preserved roads in America:
http://www.woonsocket.org/greatroad.html
One unique feature of the home is one of its Pandean pipe fireplaces which plays musical notes as the fire burns. The house features ten fireplaces throughout hence the name "Hearthside".
One parlor display is of a 1890s wake complete with a widow dressed in black. In fact all the docents are in Victorian era costumes which are a delight to see. Another room features furniture from the family of Elisha Hunt Rhodes who was featured in Ken Burn's PBS Civil War series.
Some of the special events worth looking out for are the annual Civil War reenactments , Native American Pow Wows, additionally I believe the grounds can be used for weddings, photography shoots and they conduct regular teas and the occasional seance too!
HP Lovecraft would give it five stars as he was a fan of Hearthside so I will too! read more