Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill

About Horace Williams House

The Horace Williams House is Chapel Hill's only historic house open to the public. Built in 1855 as a distinctive octagonal structure, the house retains its original architecture including woodwork, floors, ceilings, and mantles. Visitors take self-guided tours through rooms furnished with antique pieces, including a set of four chairs and a settee that belonged to philosopher Horace Williams, the home's final private owner. The house displays exhibits about the people who lived there across its history. The Octagon Room serves as a rotating exhibition space featuring work by local artists, with exhibits changing every few months. At the house, visitors can pick up free self-guided walking tour maps of the surrounding historic district, including routes along East Franklin Street and through the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. The house operates as headquarters for Preservation Chapel Hill, an organization dedicated to preserving historic homes through adaptive reuse.