1892 Bishop’s Palace

Interesting house. It’s a bit small to be called a palace though. Most of the rooms are really fairly small for the amount of entertaining they were said to have done. The wood and stone work is outstanding though. The tour is self-​guided and the audio didn’t always start at the beginning on my unit.
We weren’t told that the 3^rd floor wasn’t included on the tour, and the 2^nd floor only had one window a/​c that I remember. It was definitely warm up there. The cost was $ 12 which might have been too much for such a short tour.

The lady up front wasn’t very welcoming. The gentlemen was nice.
Glad we went, very interesting. The place is just beautiful. Think it will be better when they finish with the third floor, it’s kinda a short tour.

The Bishop’s Palace is one of the island’s historic homes with strong ties to families and island’s devastation through hurricanes and other events. Built by a wealthy family in the 1890s, the architecture is the signature style of Victorian Galveston and is well preserved in many parts of the house. The Historical Foundation has done a wonderful job of restoring many sections and is still in the process with the upper sections. You can your the home with an audio set on your own or take a specialized tour that is basement to attic for an extra charge. The Basement to Attic Tour is well worth the extra money for the extra rooms that you are able to see as well as the proceeds going toward he foundation’s efforts to renovate the roof, which is original to the home. The tour is over full of information and is a great way to learn about the home and the Victorian era prior to and immediately after the 1900 hurricane that struck the island. Barbara was our tour guide and is excellent at keeping you entertained. The full tour lasts between 2 – 2.5 hours so you get your money’s worth! They also have a gift shop full of books and items relating to the island. I highly recommend it for tourists and for locals like me wanting to learn more about the island’s heritage!

If you are in Galveston and love history and architecture, this is a must see! The home was built between 1887 and 1893 for The Gresham family. The exterior of the house is breathtaking. The attention to detail and the extravagance is just spectacular. The interior of the house has been maintained to look like it did originally. Lot’s of wood engravings that you won’t find these days. The stained glass windows are so beautiful, just not seen these days. It’s like walking back in time, looking in on the super wealthy of that time period. The audio phone tour was great. You can go at your own pace. Even my 3 boys liked it. In fact, my 5 year old didn’t want to leave! I especially like that none of the rooms on the tour were roped off and you can actually look at every detail up close and linger for as long as you like.

this is a vistor’s attraction not to miss. self guided, or guided tours. it is truly remarkable the amount of time it took to build, the history of the house itself. the fact it is still standing after all the hurricanes (the 1900 and 2008 ike for example). shows the craftsmanship at the time. and why this house is still standing and most others are not standing after storms. i would suggest reading up about it before you visit so you know all to look for. we loved it and will visit again when we return to galveston. make sure to allow enough time to really go through and see everything.

This was a very interesting spot to visit. I’m glad that I went. It was very beautiful inside. Look for the $ 1 coupons available in those touristy displays for your ticket discount. It was nice to go at your own pace and have an audio tour of all of the information. I can’t imagine building a place like that. It was amazing. Great skilled artisans and craftsmen showed such amazing work.

Absolutely stunning historic home. Took my family there and we were all amazed at the architecture.

My wife and I wanted to increase our understanding of Galveston’s history and felt a tour of a building that had withstood the 1900 hurricane and most recently Ike, would contribute to this understanding. Our tour guide was a fine young man (Kevin) who quite obviously had done his homework on this building’s participation in Galveston’s history. Kevin was able to answer any question presented by the tourists and kept the flow through the home at a reasonable pace. Each touring participant has a personal level of interest in this type of information, so I will not bore you with what impressed me. Suffice it to say that if you have any interest in Galveston’s as it pertains to those that developed the domestic aspect, this tour provided a valuable historical data point.

Do not miss this amazing home in Galveston! It’s a self-​guided tour, so you can set your own pace. They provide the audio pieces so that you can listen to information about the various rooms as you walk around. The home is amazing. A historic landmark in Galveston. Definitely worth a visit.

Once you enter this 1860’s architecture you are amazed with the the past. The details all over this house is amazing. From all the wood finishes to the catholic colored glass. Just go find on your own. :)

Very cool and historic building! Went with my 6 year old and he really enjoyed it! Will definitely go back again!

We loved this place. We opted for the audio tour, and it was very satisfying. Great for two adults and one 13 year old.

Bishop’s Palace is gorgeous and truly a great place to be taken back into the past. We took the self-​audio tour and loved being able to walk at our own pace. This house is perfect for a leisurely stroll throughout so you can really pay attention to every detail.

If you are fortunate enough to be in Galveston on the one Saturday per month they offer the «basement to attic» tour, I highly recommend it! It costs $ 30, but you will definitely feel that you got your money’s worth. (The money is going towards a new roof)
And for you ghost hunters, I did get some very interesting evp’s.

It was a fun tour, but they don’t let you on the top floors so you only get to see half the house. The gift shop is great though, I bought some Poo-​Pouri there which really works (I’ve never seen it sold in a store before). The house is beautiful and it’s a fun tour, way more affordable than moody gardens!

Second time here. Always interesting and takes you back to a time long ago. Under some renovation so not everything accessible.

I enjoyed touring this lovely historical home. The audio tour was very informative and pointed out interesting details of the architecture, family history and antidotes. Although, workmen were busy on the second floor, we were able to see everything. If you like old homes with high quality workmanship, this is a must see.

My friends and I visited the palace while in Galveston for my birthday last summer. The palace is absolutely GORGEOUS. It would be a great spot for wedding/​engagement pictures, and it’s also just a good place to go to escape the summer heat for a few hours.

The tour was fantastic. Lots of interesting facts about the architecture, finishes, and the family that built it and lived there. Your tour guide always makes or breaks this kind of experience. Lloyd did a great job — thank you!

This place is awesome.
The whole reason it’s still there is the Catholic Church across the street purchased it to save it from being leveled and becoming a texaco. So thank goodness.
It’s a restored gem there in Galveston. The floor inlays are gorgeous, the detailed woodwork, the just ambiance of the place is amazing.
If you can catch the marine to give you your tour. He gives you lots of side information that makes the tour that much more fun.
Absolutely recommend this place.

Solid 5 star attraction. The word Mansion takes on a true meaning here.
Now a days you see so many expensive homes that are nothing more than boxes with multiple rooms. The art of a home is lost on so many who favor quantity over quality. Ask yourself how much would it cost to build this masterpiece today.

This place is BREATH-​TAKING!
It was not really too clear on where to get tickets, but don’t be afraid to ask. The tickets can be purchased in the gift shop that is the house’s basement area that was converted from an old kitchen to the gift shop. They have plenty of local items that you can take with you as well as some knick knacks that you would find at any other old, antique shop.
My husband and I took the guided tour with Lloyd and he was AWESOME! He says that he really loves what he does and you can really tell. He is so full of knowledge and you can hear the passion in his voice. The guided tour is long, but I feel that if you do the self-​guided audio tour, you will not get the same excitement. We went through each and every room in that amazing house and although not a «mansion» or «palace», it still has a way of making a house feel huge! The high ceilings, the intricate décor… *sigh* so beautiful! And the history behind those walls on how it went from Gresham’s Castle to the Bishop’s Palace is pretty interesting. That house has definitely seen alot in its time.
It is the usual «exit through the gift shop» routine, but after you walk through the house, you want to help make sure that a piece of history stays alive! There is a donation box that you can help donate to help the redo the roof as that is falling apart, and whatever else that may need maintenance, but other than that… wouldn’t you want to help?
Yes… it is old… yes… it’s very vintage… but that was the best part! Who can walk into a vintage house from back in the day with ALL of the original pieces still intact and get the original story? There’s definitely a story behind those walls, and if you have the pleasure of taking a stroll into Galveston, I say check this place out!

Bishop’s Palace is an enjoyable thing to do in Galveston if you want to do something where you learn historical facts and have fun at the same time.
It is quite a beautiful mansion, imagine if it were fully furnished inside?! Then it would be a tour! But, the tour guides really know their stuff so it’s quite interesting throughout.
The tour lasts about an hour and you’re only toured through the 1^st and 2^nd floors out of 4 floors. We asked why not all 4 floors and our guide said it was because the fire marshall said there always needs to be 2 ways off of a floor and the 3^rd and 4^th floor don’t have 2 ways.
I could feel creepy aspects of the mansion because of the paintings everywhere, the old smells and squeaky floors. I would not want to be stuck in there at night. We were so close in asking if there were any hauntings there. Haha.

If you want to broaden your brush stroke of Galveston, take an hour out of your «busy» island vacation, and tour Bishop’s Palace. (If you want to broaden it even more, take a drive down Broadway… during the day.)
I loathe reading about history. It’s so dull. Text book writers are dull writers. Sure, they are «attempting» to give the impression of judicious equality, but alas you mix in politics, quite a bit of watering down, bad writing, droning teachers, and you get dull books told in a wash of monotone drab. Like the aftermath of a hurricane, just without all the drama.
Bring that story to life by walking through a «historical place» with just a small group of students, one specialized historian, and a living, breathing house in a very storied city, and you get a three dimensional experience. One that hits most of your senses… some of your senses. It makes your imagination run and you get a better understanding. You see nuances that would otherwise be left out of the book’s description.
For example, we all know that servants were 2^nd class citizens at the turn of the 19^th century. They had their own living quarters. Bathrooms. Stairs. They would have to run up and down the stairs in 95 degree heat, dressed out in full uniform to get little boys a glass of water and a slab of bread. Oh that sounds interesting. Where you even paying attention to that, or where you thinking about whether or not you took the dog for a walk. Now, take a tour of that same house in the summertime. Look at how plain, narrow, and steep the stairs are. You’re sweating a bit and you’re in beach appropriate linen. You look all the way up at just how high 96 stairs can go and you think you’d better just go rest for a spell.
Take a step into the opulent entertaining rooms. The woodwork. The craft. The gorgeous, yet unnecessary fireplaces in every. single. room. Just when did we get so wired to think we need to have some sort of themed focal point in every room? TVs. Fireplaces. The same, but different, yes? Granite and tiles imported from around the world. Glass blown into chandeliers to be wired with some knew fad called electricity. Cisterns piped directly into the bathroom so a lady can wash her hair with rain water.
Our tour guide was wonderful. He kept the attention of a family of four, a pair of hungover college kids, a mother/​daughter, various other gentry, and an architecture/​art/​Gulf Coast/​silent movie buff. The stories he told, were affectionately candid. He knew the house, the families who lived there (the bishop lived there with his sisters), and local Galveston lore exceptionally well. In fact, halfway through the tour, a few of us found out that there was a Saturday $ 30 tour where you get to go upstairs and see the room that houses the central dome. $ 30 is steep, but it also goes back to restoring the house due to that horrid Ike. There was roof damage, as well as quite a bit of leaking.
Of course you exit through the gift shop, but then when do you not when you leave a museum? They did have some neat stuff and the basement is pretty fun to peak around in, so there was that.