Bradlee-McIntyre House Museum

Tucked into the heart of the Longwood Historic District, the Bradlee-McIntyre House Museum is the centerpiece property of the Longwood Historic Society, an independent local nonprofit dedicated to preserving the city’s nineteenth century roots. The house itself has a story worth knowing before you ever step through the front door. Built in 1885 by Nathaniel Bradlee as a winter cottage in nearby Altamonte Springs, the Queen Anne style home was slated for demolition decades later until a coalition of preservation minded residents raised the funds to save it. In 1973 the entire structure was moved to its current site in Longwood, where it has stood ever since as a window into Central Florida life during the late Victorian era.

Visitors who arrive on a tour day are greeted by docents, many of them longtime society volunteers, who lead small groups through the home’s period furnished rooms. The parlor, dining room, and upstairs bedrooms are dressed with antiques and reproductions chosen to reflect how a prosperous winter resident might have lived in 1880s Florida, back when Longwood was a budding railroad town rather than a suburb of Orlando. Architectural details like the wraparound porch, decorative gable trim, and the home’s tall narrow windows are highlighted during the walk through, along with stories about the Bradlee family and the effort it took to physically relocate a wood frame house of this size.

The museum operates on a modest but steady schedule, opening its doors every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon from one to four o’clock. Admission is kept intentionally affordable at five dollars per person, with children under five admitted at no charge, reflecting the society’s mission of making local history accessible rather than exclusive. Larger groups, school field trips, or visitors who need a different time slot are encouraged to call ahead, since the society can often arrange special tours outside the standard hours.

Beyond the house museum itself, the Longwood Historic Society maintains two additional historic structures nearby within the same district: the Inside-Outside House, an 1873 prefabricated New England building that now houses a small gift shop, and the Historic Civic Center, a rentable event space used for weddings and community gatherings. Together these properties form a walkable cluster of preserved architecture that gives Longwood’s downtown core its distinct small town character, a contrast to the strip malls and highways that surround much of Seminole County.

The society funds its preservation work primarily through membership dues, museum admissions, and its signature Monster Dash 5K, an annual fall fundraiser that has raised more than one hundred thousand dollars for the organization since it began in 2018. For anyone interested in Florida history, Victorian architecture, or simply a quiet afternoon away from the theme parks, the Bradlee-McIntyre House offers an unhurried, genuinely local alternative. It is entirely volunteer supported and independently run, standing apart from the region’s larger, better funded museums as a grassroots effort to keep one small piece of old Longwood intact and open to the public.