Reviews of Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens (Tourist Attraction)

Susan Shofkom

Who knew Houston could be so beautiful. If you are into gardening and/or historical homes then you need to visit Bayou Bend.

Antoinette Alcazar

Great place to visit. Beautiful gardens and gorgeous historic house.

Due DiligenceBih

Anything nature preserved is a 5 star!! And thank goodness some in Houston! Yey for this beautiful natural collection that we are able to enjoy! So much to see! House tour with personal tour guide and very inexpnsive like $15.

Eli Sht

This a very nice and pleasant park. Naturally, I would enjoy visiting a place like this. Unfortunately I had broken my leg several days prior to my visit here and I had to use a wheel chair and started to really appreciate wheel chair friendly places. Unfortunately, this is not one of those places - hard to pass trails, a lot of places with several stairs and not a single ramp. The house has two stories and there is a lift to the 2nd floor but it only for staff use! In short, it's a great place but they have a lot to improve in the accessibility department.

Tom Riggins

What a hidden gem. You will almost forget you’re in the middle of Houston. The guided tour of the house was an incredible journey through period pieces and local history. Walking the grounds takes you back to a place in time that the world is fortunate to have preserved in this fantastic home and grounds.

X_MissingOctober_X

Really beautiful but wish this was more stroller and wheelchair accesible. The lady in the giftshop was very nice to my friend and my baby and I.

Lynn C

I absolutely love this place. Ima Hogg was a Houston institution, and you can't live here without knowing who she was and appreciate all that she contributed to our great City. It is because of her that Houston is so culturally rich and admired by so many other cities. Her art collection founded the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. She created the Houston Symphony, she helped to create HISD, she was one of the founding members of River Oaks. Read up about her! The museum at Bayou Bend is super helpful, and has lots of activities. You can find out about them by going to be mfah website.

Janell Kean

Beautiful grounds and lovely home (Museum). Family Days are the best!!

Charles Stuart

Well laid out - informative labelling

Cindi Picou

Beautiful day to tour the home and gardens. Very well-curated historical museum set amidst fabulous gardens. A must-see in Houston

Jacqueline Foster

Visiting a friend out of town and stumbled upon this place. So happy I did. Grounds, docents, art, furniture and story all entrancing. Enjoyed every moment. I had visited Hearst Castle in CA two weeks prior and my experience there, despite its vastness and wealth, did not do justice to this one quaint lovely place.

joyce nadal

Such a great place to go for a walk and appreciate art.

Brian Quaresma

Beautiful grounds. House tour is good not great

Victoria Austin

Great place! "Must to see" thing in Houston

Stephanie Frerich

We love these gardens. They did a great job with the winter lights and it was magical for our girls. If you are traveling and want to do something unique and special, plus get some fresh air, I highly recommend.

sbrock317

Wish we could have done the whole house on the self tour but the garden was pretty

Julia Oa

A little bit hard for finding a parking spot, but it’s a beautiful garden and it’s worth to see it.

Angela Mann

Beautiful house and grounds. Tom Wilson was a superb guide through the house.

Lisa Hill

This place is just so beautiful and full of history. If you get the chance to go, you should.

Melanie Popa

Excellent self-guided tour. Very informative short videos at the welcome center. Beautiful grounds.

Alan Steinberg

Quite a beautiful place to walk through. You almost forget that you are in the center of Houston.

Russell Hanna

Great lawn and surroundings for photography... Interesting collection of antiques in the gift shop. That was the biggest surprise...

Timothy Karamitsos

Fun little place to visit. We just went for the Christmas village and the kids liked it. Plenty to do. We've visited before too and there's lots of interesting things to read and look at.

Ted Mielke

We love this oasis, museum and fantasy garden. Filled with many species of azaleas, camillias, bulb flowers, ferns and trees. The house and history are also worth learning about. Take the family and a tripod after a picnic in Memorial Park!

Ed Johnson

It was glorious. My two sons really enjoyed the gardens. It cost $2.50 more than I thought (Azalea Trail event was going on) but to be in nature with my boys enjoying themselves and to see Ms. Hogg's (and her brothers house with the deal) was all worth it!

Simone Brown

Of course the place is beautiful but the guy at the booth seemed very fragile. Don't bring little kids because the docents get real nervous.

Susie Murphy

Interesting collection and beautiful grounds!

Gw r

A 14-acre facility of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that houses a collection of decorative art, paintings and furniture.

Onyinye Kanu

Nice place to walk around when the weather is nice.

Kfr Newpage

Wonderful experience, great art and history. Go when the azaleas are blooming or when they do Christmas. Google maps sends you to West Cove but turn directly across from Westcott off Memorial.

S Mitchell

The Bayou Bend staff think they are the Secret Service. I was truly offended when half way though our self-guided tour a black-clad ear-piece wearing staff member marched up to me, another adult in our party, and my 10 year old (who was standing beside me with her hands at her side) to unnecessarily and loudly "remind" me that children are not to touch, sit on, reach across the ropes, etc. This staffer needlessly embarrassed a well behaved child in front of several adults. That is no way to treat a young person with an interest in history and the decorative arts and it is infuriating to a mother in the process of cultivating these interests. Later in the tour we found the upstairs full of faulty motion sensors that were being triggered by every single visitor as they merely entered the proper viewing are of a room. Sirens were constantly being triggered which prompted the staff into clutching their lapels into which they made utterances of "False Alarm in Sector Two. Repeat. False Alarm in Sector Two." We were all, adult and children alike, made to feel like our presence was an intrusion.

Shaik Shabana

Nice Christmas lighting. Worth to spend 1.5-2 hrs

Henry Tai

Great place to visit. We visited there in Sunday evening, there were many activities for kids. The garden is beautiful. There is live music. Inside the house, there were guides every room to explain the history. It is a good place for recreation and education.

Sharon Hoyt

AMAZING TRANQUILITY IN THE CITY . Enjoy the shady gardens . Look for tours to learn about the Historic Hogg Residence showing American treasures of a privileged real TX owner & collector. The property now belongs to the amazing MFAH collection. Occasional days special events.

Shantal Huerta

This place is amazing!!! Stunning everywhere!! The house is very well kept. The gardens are beautiful and soothing. If you're thinking about going here don't think twice, just go!

Destiny Murray

It’s really beautiful, I wish I could go when the flowers are in full bloom

Gus Torres

Nice place to go on a cool day, but hard to see the grounds when it is so hot!

Nnenna O

This place is in River Oaks and has about 8 lovely gardens on 12 acres. The building itself has furniture from the 16th century to the 19th century.My tour guide was warm and very friendly. I will definitely visit again. I did not like crossing the bridge though because I could see the bayou and I fear heights.If there is another entrance, I will take it any day.

Steven Johnson

I'm just in love with art it so in fascinated

ibdaly

Beautiful gardens. You can take pictures and walk around and really feel the nature of the park. The house is amazing, we didn't get to tour the house but hopefully next time. We also walked around the Museum showing history, art and pictures.

Jose Roberto Ramos Balderas

Amazing and beautiful. A mini Central Park in Houston.

Victoria Perez

Great experience! Found 4 4 leaf clovers while here! Great place for kids to run in garden and have fun

Cristy Coyne

Must Go! Family free on some Sundays. Great history field trip. Wonderful to learn of such giving families. We need more like them. They share their passion and wealth with beauty and education.

Korrin Johnson

I'm sure I would have enjoyed it if I could have gotten past the gate. They are very strict about the 4:29 cutoff for entry. The glimpse I could see was very nice. The suspension bridge walkway was fun.

Gloria Robayo

It's hard to believe this is in houston. Absolutely beautiful and worth your money. Enjoy during spring or fall. I wouldn't try it in the summer :).

Sandra Estefania Lazo-Herencia

Like stepping back in time, the Bayou Bend Collection and gardens present a glimpse of an affluent past frozen in time. It's lovely and worth seeing. Over Christmas the decorations are delightful, a great place to bring the whole family.

Jon Abrams

It was okay. I guess if you are into Texas History, it would be more entertaining. A couple nice photo op places and the grounds are nice, but I wouldn't go again.

John Borcz

If you have a love for history and architecture and of course Texas, you'll find this beautiful home wonderful. Our docent, Barbara Donnelly, was informative and loved her job and it showed

Trudina Clark

A wonderful insight into the history of Houston. Beautiful gardens, which you can explore freely. A two level house with friendly & knowledgable staff, definitely worth having a Guided Tour, as they make the house come to life. A lovely 2-3 hours (if you take your time) ADVICE: make sure you go when the whole house is open, maybe ring to confirm.

Cade Hodgson

The best time to go is mid March when the azaleas bloom. The rest of the year is more green than flowery, but I never regret going. Whenever I come here, I just fantasize bout being able to live there with such an amazing garden as my back yard. The lawn is beautiful from the house, and several of the trees are amazingly enormous and stately. The house tour isn't really worth the money, but you could do it once just to say you did.

chad Pepper

Nice to see all the very old beautiful wood furniture, and paintings.

Terry Canup

Beautiful gardens. Wonderful art. Excellent home. Terrifiic setting.

Al DesHotel

Very nice meeting rooms. Good place to hold organizational meetings.

Sam Lopez

We went in late May so I'm sure if any of the flowers were supposed to of bloomed but we didn't see much. Total waste of time & money

irving weisenthal

Cool vibe. Nice afternoon.

lee preimesberger

Amazing place to visit. Docents are very knowledgeable and all volunteers, be nice and thank them.

Janine Jones

Nice place to do a quick visit and explore some of Houston history.

Mike Rivas

One of the best places for you to take a walk or take your family on a blast to the past. Super cheap and lots of awesome things to look at.

Mark Bason

Beautiful outdoor Azalea gardens. Great place to take you significant other.

Mark engell

Shum bukar.. very beautiful place.

Neda Asgharzadeh

Beautiful historic house and grounds. It's a great experience, join a docent tour for the full story.

Jeff Sammons

A beautiful and tranquil gem in the center of Houston. Friendly staff are very eager to interpret exhibits and answer questions about the home, furnishings, or the property. Not all areas are wheelchair/stroller accessible.

Francisco Castaneda

Great place to visit during spring

Kerry Bradley

Houston has many great features, but natural beauty and lovely parks are not among them. Thankfully, Bayou Bend is filling the gap. A well tended collection of statuary, water features and gardens located off Buffalo Bayou. There's also a house dating from the 1920s which cost extra to attend and which may be of interest to those who like staring at old furniture (can't say it fascinated me). The gardens tend to be quiet and, perhaps due to a significant admission price, not overly crowded. Probably best enjoyed in spring or fall when the climate is milder, the flowers are out and the mosquitos are not.

Tony Quiñones

A bit pricey but if you want to enjoy a nice walk alone or with others a nice place to visit.

Billy McGrath

Surprisingly cheap when considering the work that must have been put in and the part of town. 1 star deducting because they didn't have any summer flowering plants when I went. Mostly azaleas that flowered two months ago. Definitely worth a check out to show off to dates or to have picnics

Mavalancha Archundia

Small nice little grammable location

Shannen Graham

The garden is beautiful, it has phenomenal views and it is truly a must see.

Komal Khatri

The museum is intriguing and is surrounded by beautiful garden all around. The flowers are blooming and this is a wonderful place to spend wandering around admiring the beauty of nature.

Chris Lahiri

Gorgeous Christmas display!

Kay Chesson

We had a wonderful time! This is Miss Ima Hogg's former residence, and is now set up as a museum for the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Most of what is in the house was purchased by Miss Ima, either for the house or for the Museum. She was a wonderful, thoughtful collector and the Museum has done a great job of curating the collection. We toured the grounds first on a hot June Saturday, which are lovely and set up by Miss Ima. After we were good and hot, we went inside and were greeted by a very nice man, who gave us a guide and directions, and told us how to use the phone descriptions. Photography is allowed. All of the docents were very nice and helpful, especially one young lady upstairs. Tours are given in the morning, but you can self tour after 1:00 on Saturdays. One lady told us that, during the Christmas season, it's especially wonderful, with lights in the garden, carolers, and other Christmas events. I'm planning on going back then.

Kaley Palmer

Overpriced, muddy and dried up. Recommend going on the late spring or summer. Had a poor experience of not seeing anything but mud and grass for $8.

Cindy Malota

What a surprise! Made a trip to Houston and had a few hours to visit Bayou Bend. The gardens are beautiful. We missed the peak of the azaleas but they were still stunning. It was spring break and Bayou Bend had special activities for children. Only the first floor was open for tours. Each room represents a time period and is filled with beautiful artifacts. Our docent was friendly and knowledgeable. I would not recommend taking small children on the home tour. They would enjoy the gardens though

Tiphlizs VP

Nice Place.. It’s free every 3rd Sunday of the month.. get to see the first floor of the cullon house and the garden..

Kim Wilkinson

Excellent one hour tour of each room with a docent who was extremely knowledgeable. Great experience!

Jessie Ray

Loved our visit to the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens! The grounds are beyond beautiful and everyone there is so knowledgeable!!

Steven Hammmond

Very pretty gardens, however the $7 admission to just the garden seems a little high for the size.

Annette Trudell

Very beautiful house and gardens. Will be going back .

Alejandra Rosales

History preserved. It was beautiful!

Neda AC

Beautiful oasis in Houston to spend a relaxing morning or afternoon

Hema Yalamanchi

A hidden gem. So beautiful and peaceful.

Margery Hoffman

A museum inside the great home of the Hogg family. Each room has significant furniture and collector grade pieces from different eras. There are some original floor planks in two of the rooms that are 18" wide. The gardens are filled with azaleas, magnolias and camellias. They're very pretty in bloom.

Adnan Jumaa

Great collection.. Nice place

ken crimmins

Good place to explore the historical family that promoted Houston

Julian Franklin

Beautiful mansion and gardens of philanthropist and oil barroness, Ima Hogg (yes, that was her real name and no, she didn't have a sister named Youra). They have Free Family days about one Sunday every month with lots of live entertainment and crafts for the kids.

Margaret VanSiclen

Beautiful even off season

Sara Henderson

The new entryway off of a large parking lot across a swinging wooden bridge is a real hit. You can see the traps or pens down below where they sample the turtles on the weekend to tag them for a greater chance of survival. The grounds and house are meticulously kept up despite the storms that occasionally go through the area. The docent gave us a real sense of history. In some ways you get the feeling you are hearing about a feminist leader. Each room in the house represents a particular era from European or American history in terms of furniture and decor. All in all it was a delightful couple hours. And we enjoyed the grounds as well.

LC CD

Hidden gem, this building is very well preserved, the staff it is interested in sharing their knowledge. Beautiful gardens, architecture and landscapes.

Azra Slavic

Beautiful place to visit,if you like gardens,art,antiques,and history. Very nice collections of paintings,silver,ceramics and furniture. Tour of the house throughout each room. There are beautiful gardens,with different types of flowers, camellias, magnolias and other trees. Helpful brochures give details about certain furniture and rooms in the house. There is helpful personnel throughout the house,in case you have some questions. The suspension bridge was fun to walk to get to the place.

Wes Goodwin

Strolling the gardens used to be free. Not now. Nevertheless they are beautiful. The house inside was disappointing. Could not enter rooms only look in from the door.

Myndy R. Romero

A very beautiful and peaceful place. The home is packed with history and very interesting historical items. The gardens are breathtaking and our tour guide, Carey Swan, was great! She answered all of our questions and was nice enough to give us an extra guide at the gardens. Worth every penny!

Angela Ferr

I would suggest if you come to get the ticket for the gardens and the inside of the house . My husband and I went only for the gardens. Their gardens are well taken care of and if you pay attention full of amazing wildlife, especially birds! Very relaxing and looks like a great venue for a wedding

Rose Cull

The grounds are amazing. The educational programming is great. The docents are awkward. It could be more professional.

Natalie Kauffman

Wonderful site to experience Houston's past!

Raymond Aguilar

Really peaceful place to visit. Gardens and grounds are very well kept. Lots of trees and shade. Fountains and garden are really nice. My kids had a good time exploring. Highly recommended. There is an entry fee, but worth it just for the peacefulness.

Allstar Ambassador

Must see attraction donated by the daughter of a former Governor. It has around 2,500 artifacts, paintings and furnishings dated from 1600s to early 1900s.

Saleemah O

Thesegardens are absolutely breathtaking. Such a serene place to relax, have a picnic, and enjoy beauty. I enjoyed walking through the gardens, and plan to make it my monthly Sunday ritual.

Mark M

Very nice place to relax your eyes and mind from the city of Houston crowd and you will enjoy the green gardens and for antique lovers I would like to say"this is your favorite place" Recommend for couples due to a lot of romantic views.

Alexandra Hagerman

We missed the times for the guided tours so we had to show ourselves around. It would have been better if we had a guide. It was a great place, a hidden gem in Houston! I’d go there again for sure.

Jennifer Jones

This is a beautiful place. It’s not a place where you would spend all day, but it’s a nice little family outing. I love the bridge at the entrance. The grounds are truly just gorgeous. At Christmas it is breath taking. It’s reasonably priced.

Andres Rodriguez Ghersi

Great site, historical house, beautiful gardens, excellent place to visit in family.

Marc O'Hara

I love this place. It's so interesting, and there are great events all the time.

Yi-Nung Yeh

The garden is very very beautiful. The decorations inside is even more pretty. It’s the place which I like the most in Houston for now.

JK Studios

Very nice area

Shannon Winger

Such a beautiful location

Benjamin Craft-Rendon

This gem in the heart of Houston is more than a museum of architecture & interior decorations, but a vivid example of how beautiful our bayous could be if they were protected vs. abused by industry

Cristy Garcia

Love it... Very good price but I recommend better visit the house but if you are a lover for nature the garden is for you

Danielle Schwausch

What a beautiful Houston gem. My first time visiting this past weekend and I am a Houston native. So interesting learning about one of Houston's legendary women, Ima Hogg. It was very hot so I'll be going back in March/April to see everything in full bloom.

Ramsey Barksdale

Peaceful, beautiful and tranquil. You forget you're within a sprawling metropolis.

Rhonda Gilezane

We visited there in Sunday evening, there were many activities for kids. The garden is beautiful. There is live music. Inside the house, there were guides every room to explain the history. It is a good place for recreation and education.

Nuwan Gunarathne

Beautiful garden. To enter you have to cross the suspension bridge. Bayou Bend is the former home of Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg. You can tour the house and see how they lived. (You can't carry strollers, water, and food inside. You can take photos without flash) Park is clean and well-maintained. There is a port-a-potties near the parking lot and there is a restroom inside the facility too. Have a fairly small parking lot. Not wheelchair accessible.

Jacqueline Chyr

Pretty, 60 min tours are $10 for MFAH members. Not as impressive as the Biltmore House lol but worth it.

Daniel F. Hamilton

Incredible museum! Great knowledgeable Docents. Fabulous collection of American historical decorative arts. A must see in Houston.

Elena Antonaci

Magical place even in February. Best to go in the summer though when flowers are blooming

Donna C

It seemed like a forest garden oasis in the midst of a big city.

Christopher Gonzalez

The fantastic 1.5 hour "study tour" really allows you to get up close with the history, significance and importance of bygone cultures. During the tour you will be encouraged to ask about the furniture, home architecture, art and garden details that most interest you. You get a glimpse of life in Houston during its early years and a taste for American industrialization, Southern formality and Texas frontier lifestyle.

NOHEAT AGENT 21

Fricken trash and boring lol

Robert Devor

Christmas Village lights, even after Christmas, is worth viewing after the holidays when It's a cold night to experience the holiday mood. The grounds are well decorated, musical (sometimes live) plus a tent with a model train. Additional fee for home tour.

Stephanie Donaldson

Breath of fresh air coming here, pictures only offer a portion of the beauty encapsulated in this landscape. Well worth the visit

Anna Martynova

Great Place, we have been here many times, but today we had a guide who was super strict. She didn’t let us take our time and enjoy our experience. She kept repeating that we HAD to stand next to the group and I didn’t have a chance to translate any parts of the tour to my foreign friend. Because of this lady, we didn’t even have time to take pictures. I completely agree with other reviews that say that the staff are too strict.

Ana W

My husband and I went to see this place today and we were both really disappointed. This place was flooded during hurricane Harvey and left the gardens pretty much in a bad shape. And perhaps that it’s fall season didn’t help either. Flowers are not in bloom and whatever greenery were left needs some TLC. I feel that it’s a reap off to charge people an entrance fee of $10 each wihen the condition of the garden is not up to par and all you could do is see the main house which has lots of history but nothing extraordinarily special.

Beatriz Torres

Beautiful place

Paul Wallace

Beautiful, but expensive, and not wheelchair accessible.

Kristen Stewart

Lovely place and helpful staff.

Great Beer Now

Houston is a large metropolitan area loaded with attractions of many types. I have lived here more than a decade, but I still find new places to visit and I’ve decided to make it a point to cross more places off of my local bucket list before the end of the year. One of them is Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. This attraction is located in the River Oaks area and is part of the Houston Museum of Art. You purchase your tickets at a building on the main road, then walk or drive down to another section where you will find a pedestrian bridge that takes you to the garden and mansion. I recommend buying your tickets and then driving down to the overflow parking lot. This will place you right next to the bridge, ready to walk across and begin your visit. Some people who visit here stick solely with the gardens and they are a sight to behold. There are several of them connected by a walkway, complete with manicured shrubs, colorful flowers, statues, fountains, and more. There are many photograph- worthy areas and those who visit will likely find many excellent opportunities to snap and share pics to social media. Touring the mansion is a great idea too, particularly if you like art, antique furniture, and various historic knick- knacks. They have guided tours who will walk you from room to room, explaining the significance of each and how the Hogg family- the former occupants of the mansion- used the different rooms for entertainment and other purposes. Paintings and portraits can be found in most of the rooms, but the most impressive to me was the antique furniture. They just don’t design furniture like this anymore and as I walked room to room, I couldn’t help but imagine having some of these items in my own house and think about the conversations they would spark. They are works of art all by themselves. Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens is a nice place to get away from the city and enjoy the natural beauty of the gardens while learning more about this era of Houston history. I recommend the 60 minute tour option and about an hour of walking around and enjoying the sights, sounds, and fragrances of the different gardens. It’s a cool place to soak up nature and history here in the Houston River Oaks neighborhood.

Judy Kufel

Beautiful house and gardens

Michael St Pierre

Visited today. The gardens were great and worth the trip in itself. The vegetation is mostly in shades of green with a lot of azalea bushes throughout and ornate trimmed boxwoods. No real amount of colorful annuals to contrast with the greenery, and when asked about the annuals they really did not seem to understand.Guided tour of the house was more like visiting The Henry Ford Museum seeing the period furniture she collected versus the house really telling about the Hogg family.

Jean Dib

Basically $12 a person for a 15 minute walk. The best part was the bridge coming in.b