GETTYSBURG -- It's a handsome bedroom, 14 feet wide, 22 feet long and 9 feet high, with hardwood floors and new wallpaper with patterns and colors that were popular in the 1860s.

It's on the second floor of a three-story, red-brick house on the historic downtown square in this famous Civil War town. During the bloody, nation-saving conflict that played out here over three days in early July 1863, the house was owned by David Wills, a prominent local lawyer and community leader.

But this is no ordinary bedroom. President Abraham Lincoln slept here -- he really did -- the night of Nov. 18, 1863, and here he composed at least part of the famous address that he delivered the next day at a ceremony dedicating Soldiers National Cemetery, where hundreds of soldiers slain in the famous battle were buried.

"President Lincoln retired early that night to put some finishing touches on the address," said National Park Service tour guide Barbara Sanders.

And now the house, which was run-down for much of the 20th century, has been lovingly restored with $7 million of federal funds. The house was officially opened to the public Thursday, which would have been Honest Abe's 200th birthday.

"You will be transformed in a magnificent time machine," said William Kough, chairman of Main Street Gettysburg, a tourism promotion group.

Robert Bisaccio, of Bucks County, said, "I get a good feeling just being here." He was one of many Civil War re-enactors who were among several hundred people at the house-opening ceremony. "It's humbling to be in the same house that Abe Lincoln was in. It makes me feel more patriotic," he said.

The renovated structure "is spooky," given that Mr. Lincoln actually stayed there for about 25 hours, said John B. Horner. 80. The Gettysburg man is another re-enactor and was dressed in a Civil War replica uniform. He said he is a descendant of Sgt. Huge Paxton Bigham, one of Mr. Lincoln's military guards in November 1863.

Besides the second-floor bedroom, another highlight of the Wills house is the first-floor law office, where Mr. Wills wrote a letter inviting Mr. Lincoln to give "a few appropriate remarks" at the cemetery dedication ceremony.

The President's address wasn't supposed to be the highlight. As a speaker, he was kind of an afterthought, since he followed the most famous orator of the time, Edward Everett, who droned on for a full two hours before Mr. Lincoln gave his memorable address that had only 272 words and lasted a mere 21/2 minutes.

Clearly, this small southcentral Pennsylvania town is awash in attractions for tourists, from the hallowed battlegrounds to the new, expanded visitors center that just opened in April, the refurbished Cyclorama painting that reopened in September and the national cemetery.

But Carl Whitehill, of Main Street Gettysburg, hopes the renovated Wills House will help spur even more visitor interest in the quaint town square itself, located about a mile from the cemetery. The town has the historic Gettysburg Hotel, which dates to 1797, plus many shops, taverns, restaurants and the railroad station where Mr. Lincoln left the train after his trip up from Washington on Nov. 18, 1863.

"We have a lot of repeat visits to Gettysburg already, and this will mean even more," Mr. Whitehill said. "The battlefield is great, but Gettysburg is more than just a battlefield. Many people just come here to visit the town square."

With the refurbished Wills House, Mr. Whitehill said there will be more attractions "to capture the 'Lincoln people,' the people who want to retrace his footsteps."

Katie Lawhon, a Park Service spokeswoman, said that in renovating the Wills house, "Our goal was not to deify President Lincoln, but to humanize him. He had lost one son and had another son sick at home" at the time of the address.

"He was the commander in chief and he took the toll of the war seriously," she said. Something that many people nowadays may not know, she said, was that in 1863 the Civil War wasn't a popular war with many people, which added to the strain on Mr. Lincoln.

"Many people were asking, 'Is this [war] worth it?' " she said.

While the Gettysburg Address is universally admired now, Ms. Sanders said newspapers in November 1863 gave it a wide range of reviews.

The Chicago Times blasted it as "a silly, flat, dishwatery utterance," while another paper praised it as "a perfect gem that will live among the annals of men."

The name of David Wills hasn't gone down in Gettysburg history the way that Mr. Lincoln, Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee, Union Gen. George Meade or Confederate Gen. George Pickett have. But Mr. Wills was a big deal in the 1860s, Ms. Lawhon said. "He was one of the most prominent people in Gettysburg at the time," she said.

He joined Mr. Lincoln and hundreds of others in a mile-long procession from the house on the town square out Baltimore Street to the cemetery dedication on Nov. 19, 1863.

The Wills House was built in 1816, but was not bought by Mr. Wills until 1859, just before the Civil War began. He could see some of the July 1863 fighting from the third floor of the house, Ms. Lawhon said. After the fierce three-day battle ended, many private homes in Gettysburg were pressed into service as makeshift hospitals, including the Wills House, where his wife, Catherine, cared for many of the wounded.

After the Confederate troops withdrew, Mr. Wills was chosen by Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin to head the town's recovery effort and helped organize the dedication of the cemetery.

Mr. Wills died in 1894. Over the decades, the house changed hands several times, serving for a while as a drugstore, a music shop and an antiques market. Its floor plan was altered and it fell into disrepair.

The Park Service bought the Wills House in 2004 for $525,000 and has spent $7 million to fix it. Mr. Kough thanked former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum for securing the federal funds. Mr. Santorum spoke at last week's dedication ceremony.

"The Wills building was literally falling down," said Mr. Kough. "We almost lost a great American treasure."

The foundation and exterior walls had to be reinforced or rebuilt, years of paint and wallpaper removed to find the original colors, and a gray paint removed from the exterior and the original red-brick-look restored.

Parlors, dining rooms and bedrooms on the first and second floors contain informational plaques and video screens to tell the story of Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Wills.

The Wills House is open free today and tomorrow. Starting Wednesday, an admission fee will begin, $6.50 for adults, with discounts for senior citizens and youths. More information is available at www.mainstreetgettysburg.org.