Edward Gorey House

It’s a very fine little museum devoted just to Ed and his work, with a very amiable curator and excellent volunteer tour guides. If you’re not familiar with Gorey, it’s a really decent hour’s worth of entertainment to stop in and immerse yourself. (And the little gift shop is well-​appointed with books.) If you are, I need not persuade you that there’s something special about trodding the boards where he and his cats once walked.
Now I will say: we are locals and I’ve been in the house a few times while the subject was still alive, and it’s utterly unlike anything I remember seeing or smelling. The glory of this house once upon a time was its mish mash of sights and smells, the overgrown riot of bushes and vines and trees and uncut grass, the jumble too much to take in at once, and the kind of eerie presence of its owner/​occupant and his posse, from the five toilets in the hallway to the boxes that were seeping something you couldn’t identify in the kitchen. My folks knew Ed from Jack’s, and he definitely had his way about him that is a little hard to find within the walls these days. Sic transit gloria. What are you gonna do? You couldn’t show it the way it was. But I’ll always carry the memory.
That said, I really commend the caretakers and curator of the museum for doing an excellent job with what they have, putting on small exhibitions and a really doable permanent exhibit. Worth a detour, for sure. The place does need an extra room for orientation — maybe an interactive screen to page through some of his works or show his theatrical works or animations, interviews, etc. — and one hopes his estate gets the idea that sharing with the EG House would be a lot better than hoarding the archives, so the public (and his estate, which is operated for the benefit of animal welfare organizations) can benefit.

Loved Gorey House. So much to see! There is a docent who will give you a quick tour, but take your time afterward to check things out. Worth the visit, and proceeds go to various animal care charities.

Very cool place! Interactive and very pleasant and patient guides/​staff. The only issue was the smell from the A/​C in the back room past the kitchen… That filter DEFINITELY needed to be changed. Couldn’t stand to be in that room for more than a couple minutes.

I went in there on a weekday and just in time for a speaking tour of the museum. I liked that it had student discount admission. EG house museum is probably one of the best museum that I’ve ever visited! I would of never know about interesting facts about Edward if I haven’t gone on the speaking tour. Our tour guide was very friendly and she has a great knowledge of EG. I highly recommend this museum to anyone whose interested in graphics, illustrations, art and cats in general. (EG had 6 cats and sometimes a 7^th cat in his house all of his life). This museum will keep you entertained and will not disappoint!

Inasmuch as I appreciate juggernaut museums like the Met, I absolutely love intimate little museums like this one. This was Edward Gorey’s house and he died upstairs… doesn’t get any closer than that.
Small museum and I like that — doesn’t take up more than an hour of your day.
Lots of little things to look at — books, art, his jewelry, his possessions and knick knacks.
Not everything is under glass — there are books that you can actually read.
Really nice staff.
Tiny but cute little gift shop with a good selection.
Cute outdoor garden space with rocks arranged by Gorey (to resemble a serpent).
Very affordable (8.00 for adults, 5.00 for students & seniors)
**TOUR OPTION. We said no but I later regretted it. Overheard the docent giving out some interesting information I hadn’t gathered on my own.
Highly recommended!

This museum was a great place to visit. I didn’t know much about Edward Gorey before visiting, but I do now! The docent was informative and knew Edward growing up. There were so many artifacts, and they were displayed beautifully. Whether it was a collection of Edward’s, a sketchbook, a larger than life-​size character, or a couple of legs popping out from under the carpet, there was something interesting in every corner. Whoever set up the museum must have had some fun!
I highly recommend this museum, and the gift shop has a lot of neat stuff, too!

This was a great museum. There were plenty of personal items from his life and I loved the exhibit of his early work. Make sure you grab a scavenger hunt at the start!

The Edward Gorey House is absolutely wonderful and definitely a must see. They have tour guides inside whom will take you all around the house and share a bunch of Gorey facts with you. However, you don’t actually NEED to stay with them. You’re free to just wander on your own and gather information at your own pace. My husband and I took the little walking tour and then stayed for hours just adventuring by ourselves.
It’s not a very big place since it was Edward Gorey’s house and not originally intended to work as a museum, so you might want to keep that in mind if you’re part of a large group looking for something to do. There’s room for a decent amount of people, but just realize that you’re probably not going to be the only group on the tour. And if you’re traveling with children, you can most definitely bring them along with you. Kids (and adults) are able to take part in The Gashlycrumb Tinies scavenger hunt. Not to brag, but I’m proud to say that my husband and I were able to find all 26 whilst we were there.
The gift shop has a bunch of Gorey merch available, but it can get a bit pricey. It may have cost me $ 10, but I did walk away with a fantastic EG cat pin when I visited. The price of admission isn’t too bad though so you don’t have to feel completely horrible about getting yourself a little something whilst you’re there. Just try not to buy TOO many cat pins.
All in all, the Elephant House is one of my favorite places that I’ve ever been and is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something a bit different to do near the Cape. Have fun, and make sure you don’t leave before you have the chance to find Neville. Your trip really isn’t complete unless you do.

I loved this house! The grounds, everything. I came here with my family on a gloomy, rainy day a couple weeks ago, aside from another guy we were the only ones there. We took the tour presented by the lovely Jean (I believe her name was) No doubt she knew her Edward Gorey, and she had a sweet animation about her, I really enjoyed it.
It was interesting to get to understand the personal side of him.
You cannot go upstairs which I was very bummed about. Apparently he was a true hoarder, ahem, collector, so there are misc. pieces from his random collections on display all around the house.
There is an adorable scavenger hunt for The Gashlycrumb Tinies, where all the scenes are played out somewhere in the house you just have to spot them! my favorite was A IS FOR AMY WHO FELL DOWN THE STAIRS and they have a blond doll face down on the stairwell.(spoiler alert haha) so cute!
The gift shop is the size of my car… But it had a lot of great stuff, books, magnets, mugs, totes, shirts, you name it. It also had a 50% bin for things with slight damage. The prices were very reasonable.
This is a must see if your a fan. PLUS the town itself is wicked cute., OMG, love it.

Such a neat place! My husband and I really enjoyed our visit, we got to learn about the man behind the macabre ink drawings, and even found a couple of pieces of the scavenger hunt for kids (find an item from each of The Gashlycrumb Tinies in the house). $ 8 was a little rich for our taste, but with a student discount to $ 5 we were much happier with the price.

I love this place. We’ve come here every year that we’ve been to Cape Cod and it is amazing that they can manage to change out the exhibit and bits around the house to keep it interesting and fresh every year, but they do it.
I love Edward Gorey’s work, and this museum really brings him to life and builds a 3-​dimensional picture of him as a person that I am sure I would have enjoyed. So many details.
And I love museums that let you really look at and even touch things. They encourage it. It is all real and not cordoned off behind plexiglass or velvet ropes.
Thank you to everyone who has made this place possible and who keeps it going.

Fantastic if you’re a Gorey fan. If you’re not, go and become one. The «Gashlycrumb Tinies» scavenger hunt was a nice touch, with clues to gruesome deaths scattered all over the place. The tiny but well-​stocked shop is great, and the house is full of info, photos, sketches, and whimsical bits of Gorey’s life.

It was interesting, but there was too much people when i went so it was a little bit hard to follow the guide and to take time to see everything, since it’s not a big house! But otherwise i really loved it and edward gorey is an artist i really love so it was nice seeing all those things.

As a hardcore Edward Gorey fan, visiting the Elephant House was a pilgrimage.
When I was there, the main exhibit was celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Vinegar Works, the most famous of which being the Gashlycrumb Tinies (you know, the alphabet book where all the kids die). I was stoked to see the original sketches of artwork for the book! Also, Edward Gorey’s notebooks with ideas for the rhymes, etc. were on display. Very cool!
Rooms showcase all sorts of Gorey artifacts.
The museum is small, since it’s only the first floor of Edward Gorey’s actual house. If there’s a tour going on, it gets crowded, and somewhat challenging to walk through by yourself.
Another nice thing about the museum is the outdoor garden, featuring a sort of topiary/​statue of the Doubtful Guest, a «serpent» made of rocks placed by Gorey himself, and gravestones of the Gashlycrumb Tinies.
Admission was only $ 8. The gift shop was a bit pricey, but had tons of Gorey books and merchandise: shirts, mugs, pins, and so on. I bought two shirts.
Would visit again. A must-​see for all Edward Gorey fans!

I’m glad I went as this museum has been on my list for awhile. I thought it was interesting. The «gallery» spaces are very small and group tours are docent led, they begin as a group gathers. The tour route flows through the first floor of the house, past free standing cases and enclosed book cases. The tour guide was hard to follow and seemed to be blurry on some of the big picture details of Gorey’s life. I heard that the artifacts in the cases change seasonally, so I’d be interested to return and see how other displays are pulled together and how much actually changes. It is a cute slice of architecture with a fabulous gift shop but the tour and case labels left me wanting more. I’m also not a huge fan of tours, so maybe if they had more in the way of panels that you could explore on your own it would be more appealing.

Visiting the Gorey house was a surprise for me. A friend of mine every year surprises me for my birthday with a night away and usually has at least one extra special stop on our «girls weekend». This year was the Edward Gorey Museum. I have been a great fan of his for quite a few years after an ex introduced me to his work. I had no idea that he had a museum let alone one in the very state in which I reside.
It was $ 8 dollars to get in but I have my student id so for me it was only $ 5. Right there was an awesome bonus. That is probably the best discount yet for a student at a museum. And a small one no less. We were greeted by one of the employees there. He was pleasant as said that we could join the tour and what ever we missed the guide would fill us in at the end. They had quite the extend on his original work. The information the guide had made me feel like he knew him personally. I didn’t ask but perhaps he did. The tour guide had to be in his 70’s since we were chatting after and he said his kids (the guide’s as Gorey did not have children) were in their 50’s.
The museum is in Gorey’s actual home. There is even reason to walk around the land. There are little placards with information of the rock formation that Gorey created in his time there at the house.
The gift shop is small but I still walked out with a great deal. $ 20 for 4 of his books. That’s the bonus to add to my collection!
I will be visiting again!

Visiting the late Edward Gorey’s house and examining his personal affects was a great pleasure for us. It was the perfect day for it, a very stormy, fall day. I loved just wandering through his charming house and reading through his letters and admiring the artwork he drew on the outside of the envelopes, penned to friends. He had a pretty cool antique jewelry collection too.
I was happy to find out he was a major animal lover and a portion of the proceeds for the museum go to help local animal welfare organizations. This is a must see if you are near Yarmouth Port.

Amazing museum, amazing artist… a fat cat, great little gallery, highly informative staff. a must do in Yarmouthport.

Aiight counting upwards, I’ma let you finish but 600 is the Goreyest review of all time.
Tis true.
A house, yes. Until the passing of one Edward Gorey in 2000, this wee casa on a cul de sac may have fooled passers-​by in to thinking it was just another unsubscriber in Paperboy. But then he died, as the living tend to do, and the residential homage to his vision blossomed.
It’s where he lived, modified and reinforced to keep his collections visible and accessible. Plenty of handwrit placards explaining the exhibits, but really, it’s the illustrator/author/playwright’s domicile, frozen in time (save the ever-​expanding shade of the property’s sprawling magnolia tree).
A complete library for perusal and copies for purchase. A giant 25lb cat that sleeps 20 hours a day laying somewhere and a steady stream of enthusiastic volunteers sharing every intimate detail of Gorey’s life.
As if a museum celebrating his work could escape some special nod to the Gashlycrumb Tinies, grab a sheet and find the hidden 16 tableaus recreating the unfortunate ends of as many kiddos.
Not a bad deal for $ 20, and an absolute for $ 5. He was one of a kind.

Definitely a fun visit! Gorey died only recently so many of his personal belongings, as well as personal stories from friends, were easily accessible in creating this museum. It’s not an especially large museum and none of the artifacts are particularly outstanding, but it’s a must for fans of Gorey’s unique style. The tour guide was clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about her job. The whole home is very welcoming, though the yuppies on the tour with us were a bit obnoxious with their dumb questions (clearly, they were not familiar with Gorey at all). It doesn’t take much time to get through the museum, but it’s also a very reasonable admission fee. Without a doubt, the best part of the tour was the scavenger hunt for the Ghastlycrumb Tinies. We didn’t find them all but refused to ask for help. Perhaps that’s an excuse to visit again?