Great topic!!!
In our case we are blessed with a great house… never needed to be restored, we have the furniture and art, along with lots of family letters and journals….
From that strength we have developed a flexible tour program which at its best (with volunteers we are not always at our best, but are more often than not) speaks to the visitors interests. We have to some extent thrown the traditional tour model out the window, and in its place seek to give the visitor their tour.
For guests with small children we try to explore the old house, moving at child speed and talking to them. For the visitor with an interest in old houses we give a 45 to 60 minute classic house tour. If they express an interest in how we maintain the house, or chose colors for paint and such we pull out the restoration files. If they only have a few minutes we give a quick tour.
Giving guests what they want results in interested guests… and the feedback results in happy volunteers… and the happy volunteers transmit their joy to the guests…
It can be frustrating when guests want a peek and are not really interested in our “story” but once past that personal disappointment, we give a great tour.
Randy Hees
Patterson House at Ardenwood Historic Farm