Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain. The 174 acre cemetery is important both for its historical aspects and for its role as an arboretum. The area is well known for its beautiful environs and is a favorite location for Cambridge bird-watchers. Mount Auburn's collection of over 5,500 trees includes nearly 700 species and varieties. Thousands of very well-kept shrubs and herbaceous plants weave through the cemetery's hills, ponds, woodlands, and clearings. The cemetery contains more than 10 miles of roads and many paths. Landscaping styles range from Victorian-era plantings to contemporary gardens, from natural woodlands to formal ornamental gardens, and from sweeping vistas through majestic trees to small enclosed spaces. Many trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are tagged with botanic labels containing their scientific and common names.

Elmwood, also known as the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, is a registered historic house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, known for its several prominent former residents, including: Andrew Oliver (1706–74), royal Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts; Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), signer of the US Declaration of Independence whose political tactics earned the term gerrymandering, and Vice President of the United States; and James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), noted American writer, poet, and foreign diplomat. It is now the residence of the President of Harvard University. The house was built in 1767 by Thomas Oliver, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts for a short period until he was forced to resign in September 1774. Although parts of Elmwood's interior have been altered, its exterior has not changed greatly over the years. It is a large, square, clapboarded structure in Georgian style with brick-lined walls and two interior chimneys.

The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House is a historic Colonial American house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest house in the city. The house is now headquarters for the Cambridge Historical Society, which provides tours several times a week. The house was originally built in 1685 by Dr. Richard Hooper as a typical "first-period" farmhouse, although its ceilings were plastered, which was unusual for a modest house. When Hooper died in 1691, his wife took in boarders and the property then began to fall into disrepair. She in turn died in 1701, and the house continued its decline until 1717, when it was inherited by Hooper's son, Dr. Henry Hooper. He added a lean-to and rebuilt the chimney with cooking ovens. In 1733, he sold the house to Cornelius Waldo, who added a third story and wooden quoins at the house's corners. Waldo also installed larger windows. The result was a house that looked thoroughly Georgian. The house is open for tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 and 3 pm.

The house was built in 1759 for John Vassall, who fled the Cambridge area at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War because of his loyalty to the king of England. For almost fifty years, it was the home of noted American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. For a time, it had previously served as the headquarters of George Washington. The last family to live in the home was the Longfellow family, who established the Longfellow Trust in 1913 for its preservation. The home was donated in 1972, along with all its furnishings, and was made part of the National Park Service. The home, which represents the mid-Georgian architectural style, is seasonally open to the public. The Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site is noted for its garden on the northeast end of the property. For a time, Longfellow's home was one of the most photographed and most recognizable homes in the United States. Several replicas of Longfellow's home appear throughout the United States.

The Asa Gray House is a historic house located at 88 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a National Historic Landmark. The house was designed in 1810 by architect Ithiel Town in the Federal style for the first head of the Harvard Botanic Garden, and has been the residence of ornithologist Thomas Nuttall and botanist Asa Gray. Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The Cooper-Frost-Austin House is a historic Colonial American house, currently estimated to have been constructed circa 1681-1682. It is the oldest extant home in Cambridge and operated as a non-profit museum by Historic New England. The house was built by Samuel Cooper on land that his father, Deacon John Cooper, had owned since 1657, and was first documented in 1689 in The Register Book of the Lands and Houses in the "New Towne" (as Cambridge was then named). Its original structure was a single room and chimney bay in width, two and one half stories in height with an integral lean-to, containing a "low room," "little room," "kitchin," "Chamber," "kitchin Chamber," "Garret," and "Cellar," all of which still exist, as do the original chimney and a facade gable. The house was extended in 1690 by Cooper's son, and then again between 1807 and 1816 by Martha Frost Austin and Thomas Austin who added an enclosed porch and Federal style stairway and trim.

The Stillman Willis House is a historic edifice situated at 1 Potter Park. It is one of the oldest residential buildings in Cambridge, dating back to 1839. Built entirely of wood, on the outside the house shows traditional Colonial Revival style with Georgian decorations on the facade. The building was listed on the National Historic Register in 1982.