The Taft house was first built for Martin Baum in 1820[4] and then was the residence of Nicholas Longworth. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, in honor of the murals on its walls that were painted by Robert S. Duncanson under the commission of Nicholas Longworth. Robert S. Duncanson painted the series of eight large-scale landscapes directly on the plaster walls of the art patron and horticulturist Nicholas Longworth's home between 1851 and 1852. Second to the Taft house itself, the murals — recognized as the most significant pre–Civil War domestic murals in the U.S. — are one of the museum's largest pieces of art.[5][6] Duncanson was also the first widely known African-American landscape painters to rise to international acclaim.[7]
After Longworth's residency, the house was purchased by David Sinton, father of museum co-founder Anna Sinton Taft. David Sinton lived in the house with his daughter Anna, who married Charles Phelps Taft, the half-brother of President William Howard Taft. The Tafts lived in the house from 1873 until their respective deaths in 1931 and 1929.[8] William H. Taft accepted his presidential nomination there from its portico in 1908[9] adding to its significance in the nation's public life. The Tafts were avid art collectors. They bequeathed their home and the collection of art that filled it to the people of Cincinnati in 1927. In the Tafts' deed of gift they stated, "We desire to devote our collection of pictures, porcelains, and other works of art to the people of Cincinnati in such a manner that they may be readily available for all." The Taft Museum opened to the public on November 29, 1932.[10]
The museum reopened in May 2004 after an extensive renovation and expansion[12] including a museum shop, the Carl H. Lindner Family Café, and a lecture and performance space, Luther Hall.
