Maison Research & Indices

Updated May 18, 2026

Maison Research brings together the biggest analytical pieces on the site. Some pages track how a single property is marketed, interpreted, or visited. Others look across hotels, museums, and historic sites to compare larger patterns.

The common thread is simple: each page starts with a clear question, a named set of places, and an argument strong enough to stand on its own. Over time this section will keep growing into a working library of indices, audits, and place-based analysis.

Looking for outside coverage? Press & Media collects links to stories and mentions from other outlets. If you want to see how Maison builds and updates its own index work, use Methodology & Standards.

Flagship National Indices

These are the biggest national pieces now live on the site. Each one is built around a real question and a visible frame, not a generic trend angle.

House and Museum Audits

These pages apply the same approach to the lived mechanics of historic-house tourism: what visitors really get to see, what kinds of tours actually exist, and how interpretation changes once labor and service history are brought back into view.

What Makes a Maison Research Page

  • Named places beat vague themes. Maison research is strongest when it is tied to a named property, named institution, or named program that people can verify and revisit.
  • Official and institutional material comes first. The site uses current public-facing source material from the places themselves and other primary or institutional documentation before it builds an argument.
  • Every strong page needs a frame. The aim is not to publish endless "best of" copy, but to create pages with a visible question, a method, and a defensible conclusion.
  • Old donor slugs are retired. When a page is superseded by a stronger canonical version, the older slug is taken offline and redirected rather than left to compete with the newer work.
  • Research pieces should be updateable. A good Maison index is something that can be refreshed, rescored, and expanded as public facts, tours, or site narratives shift.

How to Use This Section

If you are browsing as a reader, start with the flagship indices above and then branch into the property guides beneath them. If you are here for background or reporting, this page is the fastest way to see the strongest Maison-built angles now live on the site.

For media mentions of Cornerstone Mansion, visit Press & Media. For practical traveler-facing planning, use the Visitor's Guide. For preservation context, use The Story of Saving America's Mansions.