The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, known as Fairsted, is the preserved home and design office of the founder of American landscape architecture, in Brookline, Massachusetts. This guide covers opening hours, ticket prices, transport and parking, accessibility, and practical visitor tips.
This guide was updated in July 2026. The most important detail: the visitor center, and access to the historic house and design office, is only open Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30am to 4:30pm, having reopened for the season on 29 May 2026; the grounds themselves are open daily, dawn to dusk, with no tour required.
Quick facts
| Opening hours | Grounds: daily, dawn to dusk. House and office: Fri–Sat, 9:30am–4:30pm (seasonal) |
| Ticket prices | Free; no entrance fee or pass required |
| Address | 99 Warren Street, Brookline, MA 02445 |
| Nearest transport/parking | Brookline Hills MBTA stop (Green Line D), 0.7 miles away; street parking on Dudley Street |
| Typical time needed | 1–1.5 hours |
The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site opening hours
The grounds at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site are open every day, dawn to dusk, for independent exploration, and no guided tour is required to walk the landscape.
The visitor center, house, and design office follow a separate, seasonal schedule. Guided tours run Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30am to 4:30pm, from late May through the autumn. During the off-season, from November through late May, the visitor center is closed on weekends, though tours can sometimes be arranged on Tuesdays or Thursdays with at least two weeks’ notice.
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The Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site ticket prices
There is no entrance fee to visit the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site. The grounds, house exhibits, and guided office tour are all free of charge.
The site doesn’t sell National Park Service passes, such as the Annual, Senior, or Access Pass, since none are needed here. As a fee-free site, it isn’t part of paid citywide passes such as Go City Boston or Boston CityPASS, which typically bundle attractions such as the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, and the Skywalk Observatory.
Opening hours and fee information were checked on the official Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site pages and last updated in July 2026.
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How to get to the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
From Boston, follow Huntington Avenue southwest from Copley Square; it becomes Route 9/Boylston Street on crossing into Brookline. Continue on Route 9 to the third major intersection, then turn left onto Warren Street and follow it an eighth of a mile to the corner of Warren and Dudley Streets.
By subway, take the MBTA Green Line D branch to Brookline Hills, turn right out of the station, and follow the sidewalk along Cypress Street across Boylston Street, then right on Walnut Street and left on Warren Street. MBTA Bus 60 also stops at Boylston and Warren Streets, an eighth of a mile from the entrance. The site is about 7.9 miles, or a 20-minute drive, from Boston Logan International Airport.
Parking at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Street parking is available along Dudley Street, alongside a nearby parking lot on the same street. Handicap parking is available at the Warren Street entrance.
Parking arrangements can change temporarily for construction or events, so it’s worth checking the site’s current conditions page before a visit.
How long to spend at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
Most visitors spend one to one and a half hours at the site, including a walk through the grounds and a look at the ground-floor house exhibits. Visitors joining the guided design office tour, which runs about an hour, should plan for closer to two hours in total.
A grounds-only visit, without the house or office, typically takes 30 to 45 minutes.
Accessibility at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
The house, now used as exhibit space, is fully accessible on a single floor with ramp access and ample seating in every room. The adjoining historic design office is not wheelchair accessible, since it’s reached through two sets of steep staircases and other smaller steps throughout its rambling, multi-level layout.
Visitors unable to manage the office’s stairs can request a 2015 video tour, narrated by a ranger, that covers the same information as the guided tour. On the grounds, the path down to the Hollow, a sunken garden, involves uneven stone steps that may be difficult for some visitors.
Inside the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site: what to see
The house exhibits, on the ground floor of the 1810 farmhouse, focus on landscape architecture and the Olmsted firm’s projects rather than personal furnishings, and include a short film on Olmsted’s life available on demand.
The historic design office, seen only on the guided tour, preserves the drafting room and other original workspaces largely as the firm left them, including a vault holding part of the archive.
The archival collection includes roughly 66,000 photographs and 140,000 plans, documenting about 6,000 landscape projects by Olmsted and his successors, including Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace.
The grounds are organised into five landscape zones: the Circular Drive, entered beneath a wooden arch; the Hollow, a sunken garden; the Rock Garden; the South Lawn, once an apple orchard and later a gathering space; and the Service Areas.
The Greenhill Parcel, a later addition to the site, extends the grounds beyond the original 1.75-acre homestead.
Practical visitor tips
| Topic | Tip |
|---|---|
| Timing | Visit on a Friday or Saturday if you want to see inside the house and design office. |
| Crowds | The site sees modest visitor numbers, so tours rarely sell out, though it’s worth arriving in good time. |
| Layout | Start at the Circular Drive entrance, then visit the house exhibits before the guided office tour. |
| Entry process | No tickets or reservations are needed for the grounds or house; the office tour runs on a set schedule when open. |
| On-site logistics | There’s no café or food for sale on site, so bring water and snacks if you plan a longer visit. |
Frequently asked questions about the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site free to visit? | Yes, there’s no entrance fee for the grounds, house, or guided office tour. |
| Do you need to book tickets in advance? | No advance ticket is needed, though off-season office tours must be arranged by email at least two weeks ahead. |
| Is the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site open on Sundays? | The grounds are open daily, dawn to dusk; the house and office tours run Fridays and Saturdays only. |
| Is the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site wheelchair accessible? | The house exhibits are accessible, but the historic design office involves stairs throughout. |
| Can you visit the design office without a guided tour? | No, the office is seen by ranger-led tour only; a video tour is available on request instead. |
Things to do near the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site, the birthplace of President Kennedy, is about a mile away.
Olmsted Park, part of Boston’s Emerald Necklace and designed by Olmsted himself, adjoins the site.
Brookline Reservoir, a walking path around a historic municipal reservoir, is directly across the street.
Coolidge Corner, a shopping and dining district, is about a 10-minute drive away.
Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is about a 15-minute drive away.
What to visit tomorrow
Codman Estate in Lincoln, a historic house with formal Italianate gardens, is about 30 minutes away.
Stevens-Coolidge House and Gardens in North Andover, a New England estate with designed landscapes, is about 45 minutes away.
Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, featuring extensive formal and woodland gardens, is about 1 hour away.
Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum in Bristol, Rhode Island, a Gilded Age estate on Narragansett Bay, is about 1 hour 15 minutes away.
Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut, a Gothic Revival house with an elaborate parterre garden, is about 1 hour 30 minutes away.
More Boston travel
Other Boston travel guide on Planet Whitley include:
- Review of the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.
- Tackle the key sites on the Freedom Trail: The Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, Paul Revere House and the Old North Church.
- Use the Boston CityPass to visit the New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Franklin Park Zoo and View Boston observation deck.
- Go back in time at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.
- What you need to know about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
