About Us

"Preservation to be successful must be enjoyable." --Sir John Smith, founder.

Established in 1991, The Landmark Trust USA is a tax-exempt nonprofit that rescues historic properties in distress. Patterned on the model established by The Landmark Trust of Great Britain in 1965, we take on projects too difficult or too burdensome for others to tackle. Once repaired our buildings are rented for vacations. In the words of Landmark’s founder, "We believe that by using buildings in this way--where possible combined with ordinary public access--the maximum number of people get the most from them; and that many visitors who go just for a holiday come back with their interest aroused in what they have found there."

We practice what in Europe is called "conservative repair." We do not attempt to make our buildings "as new"; rather, we allow the history of the building to direct our work. We save as much of the historic fabric as possible preferring repair over renewal and replacement. Each of our buildings has been sympathetically upgraded to include the conveniences of modern living.

Our buildings are furnished with antiques which in many cases have themselves been rescued. Each property is also provided with books that relate to its history, setting, and general environment; these range from field guides and histories to novels and poetry. For each property we also assemble an album of historical notes that describe the significance of the building, its condition when we began our work, and a description of our repairs along with photographs and plans. We also provide a logbook for guests to add their observations and suggestions for subsequent visitors.

The rental income not only pays for the maintenance of our buildings but allows us to direct our fundraising efforts to new projects and to present educational programs, another important component of our mission. We have over the years offered a diversity of programs including our very popular "Stories at Naulakha" through which 500 school children annually hear the Just So Stories told where Rudyard Kipling first told them to his daughter, historic masonry repair classes offered during the repair of our Amos Brown House, and so on.

Again from the founder: "A stay in a Landmark is meant to be not just a holiday but an experience, of a mildly elevating kind."