pettigrew home & museum

A gorgeous old home to tour, many surprising features like outside wall covered with petrified wood, and L.C. Tiffany lamps and ceiling light fixtures. Also very nice that it is open every day from noon to 5, and is free, donations accepted. Nice college student docent, they have a bit reference book with photos and more info on every item in the house if you have questions. They sell a very nice 5 pack of photos of the rooms for only $1.75. A small separate section gives interesting info about the settling of the Sioux Falls area, including interactions with the Sioux Native Americans of the region. If you love old homes, pick up a brochure about a walking tour of the neighborhood.

We love visiting old homes and this one was worth visiting. We received a guided tour through the home which included a history of Mr. Petitigrew and the home. After the tour we viewed the museum and interesting items, including a mammoth bone. They also had hands on displays which was nice for kids. Would recommend to others to visit, and it's free. Easy parking is on the street.

This is a neat home if you like old school architecture and stone work. The house is built from local Sioux Quartzite and Petrified wood. Plus Pettigrew did some great things in South Dakota's infancy. Lots of neat South Dakota History.

Free admission to this home and museum. We were glad we went. The workmanship of the home was beautiful. We liked learning the history of Mr. Pettigrew.

Filled with wonderful artifacts of just about everything and so very interesting. If you would like to see how their displays represent the old west and many other items of interest they have collected in one house, this is the place to come. Well worth my time.

The Pettigrew museum was great. We went as a family. It had lots of history & enchantment. The house, beautiful. The displays were really nice. I did not know anything about the history of Sioux Falls & this explained & told tales that kept us interested & we learned about the origins of that city. loved it!

You can clearly see how the rich and prominent people of this city lived in the days past. Fully restored with great artifacts of the time. Many history lessons can be learned about the city. Only bad part was they do not allow you to take pictures.

The house, built in 1889, was purchased by Senator Pettigrew in 1911. It offers a look at how the upper crust lived in that era. The senator was a collector and amateur archeologist and built the attached museum (made in part from petrified wood) to showcase his finds. An interesting, low cost (free) place to visit.

Beautiful, well kept 120+ year old home. Full of artifacts, displays, articles, etc. Very knowledgeable volunteers to help guide you through by telling the story, answering questions.

Even though we have no personal connection to the place it was interesting to see this part of history. Seems like Pettigrew was a very unique man.

My love of the Victorian era, has taken me to countless B&B's, museums and walking tours throughout my lifetime. With that being said...the opportunity to tour this home and museum, came as we were planning a mini-vacation to NW Iowa and into Watertown for the Redlin Art Center. When one hears the word "free" it oftentimes leaves the imagination to ponder "what are we getting ourselves into" -- let me say this -- it truly was an awesome experience! Our guide was very informative and due to the lateness of the day and being off-season for major tourism, he allowed us to linger longer in each of the rooms and very patiently answered all of our inquisitive questions! While there are other Victorian homes and museums in the Midwest, one has to remember some money was acquired through hard work, blood, sweat and tears, while others came into their fortunes through political gains. So, each home and/or museum of that time period must be judged on their own merit and not be compared to others, like the James Hill House in St. Paul, MN. Go into this fine example of a home, with an open mind and just relish in the splendor of a bygone era. (If you have time, there are also several walking tours in the area to feed your love of that time period!!)

My wife loves the Victorian Era and the homes of that time period, so we stopped at the Pettigrew Home & Museum. Since we were there during the off-season for tourists and on a week day, we received a private and wonderful tour. Our guide through the house was very informative, answered each of our questions, was very patient and allowed us as much time as we wanted to look at each of the rooms. After the house tour was concluded we were able to conclude the rest of our visit through the museum on our own. It was very interesting to see a 1920's museum and I learned something I didn't know about the Victorians. As we left the Pettigrew Home, we picked up a leaflet which had a map for a walking tour of the neighborhood, showcasing some of the different architecture and famous homes in the areas. While we did not walk the entire map of 42 homes we did see some very beautiful and well taken care of homes, most built by the same person that built the Pettigrew home. It was a very nice step back in time and I highly recommend this area and the Pettigrew home tour, if you love architecture and the Victorian way of life. It doesn't cost you a thing other than a little time and exercise.

We walked around downtown and found this museum down a side street. It belonged to South Dakota's first senator, R.F. Pettigrew. It had history about the city and lots of "older" type things on the walls and around the house. We weren't able to do the tour, but I've heard it is good. There were a few interactive things for kids to do, things related to traveling in covered wagons and counting activities. There were several hands on activities and while it is a short visit, it was worthwhile. Also it was free, just accepting donations.

I would like to clarify that we didn't stay long enough for the tour.The house itself is nice, but honestly isn't even the best sight in the historic district. Basically, this is a good stop for a history of Sioux Falls, but unless that tiny grain of world history is going to rivet you, you'd be better off spending your time somewhere else. It is nice that it's free and near St. Joe's, but it doesn't offer the same experience as the Pavilion or the Outdoor Campus, which are also free and in town. My opinion would be to skip it for time other places.

the museum was interesting. would have liked to linger in the house a little longer. beautiful home. our tour guide was new and every comment and sentence started with "umm" which was very distracting.