On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Jennifer Fair <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I have a few questions regarding the interpretation of historic houses. I am
> working on a project that involves creating a temporary exhibit about the
> history of a 1908 house. The house was donated to the museum 1990 by a local
> arts organization. The arts organization re-furnished the house to 1908 and
> provided extensive restoration to the interior and exterior.  I am in the
> process of researching the people who lived in the house over many years and
> I am finding that the current furnishing to 1908 does not accurately reflect
> the history of who occupied the house from 1908-1982.

I find that this is a common problem with historic houses when they
are first donated, esp. if the previous owners or their immediate
descendants are still living. People want to keep the houses they way
they remember, not the way they actually were.

First off, I'd go back to the interpretation plan. If you don't have
one, this is a good opportunity to create one. Are you interpreting
the house as closely as possible to how it was in history or are you
interpreting it as an example of a house and furnishings from a
specific time period? If it is the former, then I'd say you need to
stick to what the house had at the time. Someone once said that a
bachelor is a bear with furniture. Even if a single gentleman lived in
the house for a time, he might have kept some of the old furnishings
and indeed had a child's bedroom or a woman's bedroom for whatever
reason - laziness, family visits, sentimental value, etc.

If you have a generic interpretation plan, then it doesn't really
matter what rooms are what as long as they are consistent with what
would have been done at the time.

A word of caution, redecorating can be a really touchy subject with
boards and older staff, esp. as I mentioned before, if the former
owners are involved. Sometimes, people just don't want to give up on a
particular look because that is what they grew up with or saw for
years on end. It's really easy to get caught in keeping up a shrine to
the former family instead of running a true historic house museum.

Deb Fuller

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