National Trust Historic Sites membership fees

Most National Trust Historic Sites offer a their own membership program in addition to the one for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and every year or so we like to offer a comparison so that Sites can evaluate the fees. Intern Stephen Neuhauser recently assembled these fees into a chart and I offer the following quick analysis.

Fees for an Individual membership vary widely, from a low of $20 (Cliveden and Farnsworth House) to a high of $100 (Glass House) and most are in the range of $25-$40. Most Sites offer a Family membership, again in a wide range from a low of $35 (Belle Grove and Farnsworth House) to a high of $140 (Kykuit). Although the cost for a Family membership is always higher than an Individual one, there is no pattern for the calculation of this fee—it ranges from a markup of 15 percent (Belle Grove) to 180 percent (Tenement Museum). A few Sites (20 percent) offer a discounted membership for Students or Seniors and even fewer (10 percent) for Couples. We could guess that most of the differences are due to the varying market conditions, but without knowing the number of members or the benefits, we can’t make that assumption.

Offering membership in the National Trust is much more complex. Most National Trust Historic Sites (55 percent) don’t seem to offer NTHP memberships. Six Sites (20 percent) offer it at an additional cost, although the rate varies from $5 (Belle Grove, Cliveden, and Drayton Hall) to $100 (African Meeting House). Five Sites (15 percent) include the NTHP membership with their own membership. Because the benefits are identical, it would be prudent to purchase your NTHP membership at one of the five Sites that include it in their basic membership.

If you’d like to analyze the information yourself, it’s available on the Reference page (see tabs at the top of the page). If we reported any errors, please inform me right away and we’ll correct our information.