A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum . Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of standards, including those of the International Council of Museums . Houses are transformed into museums for a number of different reasons. For example, the homes of famous writers are frequently turned into writer's home museums to support literary tourism .
48-661: The Hammond–Harwood House is a historic house museum at 19 Maryland Avenue in Annapolis , Maryland , USA. Built in 1774, is one of the premier colonial houses remaining in America from the British colonial period (1607–1776). It is the only existing work of colonial academic architecture that was principally designed from a plate in Andrea Palladio 's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture) (1570). The house
96-669: A collection consistent with the historical structure. Some museums choose to collect pieces original to the period, while not original to the house. Others, fill the home with replicas of the original pieces, reconstructed with the help of historic records. Still other museums adopt a more aesthetic approach and use the homes to display the architecture and artistic objects. Because historic homes have often existed through different generations and have been passed on from one family to another, volunteers and professionals also must decide which historical narrative to tell their visitors. Some museums grapple with this issue by displaying different eras in
144-466: A collection of the traces of memory of the people who once lived there. It is often made up of the inhabitants' belongings and objects – this approach is mostly concerned with authenticity . Some museums are organised around the person who lived there or the social role the house had. Other historic house museums may be partially or completely reconstructed in order to tell the story of a particular area, social-class or historical period. The " narrative " of
192-486: A professor of history and political science, further adds to social history and its relationship to locations by saying – Following this historical movement, the concept of " open-air museums " became prominent. These particular types of museums had interpreters in costume re-enact the lives of communities in earlier eras, which would then be performed to modern audiences. They often occupied large wooden architecture buildings or outdoor sites and landscapes, that were true to
240-493: A rectangular-shaped structure overall. The Ionic anta capital, in contrast to the regular column capitals, is highly decorated and generally includes bands of alternating lotuses and flame palmettes , and bands of eggs and darts and beads and reels patterns, in order to maintain continuity with the decorative frieze lining the top of the walls. This difference with the column capitals disappeared with Roman times when anta or pilaster capitals have designs very similar to those of
288-401: A shallow hipped roof. The wings project toward the street with three-sided hipped-roof bays. The hyphens are rendered as a blind arcade, with the central bay a door opening with a pediment above. There is little decoration, with plain rubbed brick flat arches over the windows. Ornament is confined to the central bay, whose door is framed by engaged Ionic columns and topped by a fanlight. Above
336-481: A version of such a perfectly four-sided Ionic capital that it became standard; when a Greek Ionic order was eventually reintroduced in the later 18th century Greek Revival , it conveyed an air of archaic freshness and primitive, perhaps even republican, vitality. The Ionic column is always more slender than the Doric; therefore, it always has a base: Ionic columns are eight and nine column-diameters tall, and even more in
384-400: A year, more than fifty percent of historic house museums received fewer than 5,000 visitors per year. These museums are also unique in that the actual structure belongs to the museum collection as a historical object. While some historic home museums are fortunate to possess a collection containing many of the original furnishings once present in the home, many face the challenge of displaying
432-458: Is characterized by the use of volutes . The Ionic columns normally stand on a base which separates the shaft of the column from the stylobate or platform while the cap is usually enriched with egg-and-dart . The ancient architect and architectural historian Vitruvius associates the Ionic with feminine proportions (the Doric representing the masculine). The major features of the Ionic order are
480-448: Is generally crowned by a stone block designed to spread the load from superstructure ( entablature ) it supports, called an "anta capital" when it is structural, or sometimes " pilaster capital" if it is only decorative as often during the Roman period. In order not to protrude unduly from the wall, these anta capitals usually display a rather flat surface, so that the capital has more or less
528-535: Is not only associated with the individual but is a shared experience. It also focused on the way individual memory is influenced by social structures, as a way of continuing socialisation by producing memory as collective experience. An example of a site that utilizes collective memory is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan. It was restored and is based on the dialectics of memory, however it also has
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#1733085742068576-629: Is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture , the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian . There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite order . Of the three classical canonic orders, the Corinthian order has the narrowest columns, followed by the Ionic order, with the Doric order having the widest columns. The Ionic capital
624-501: The Antebellum colonnades of late American Greek Revival plantation houses. Ionic columns are most often fluted . After a little early experimentation, the number of hollow flutes in the shaft settled at 24. This standardization kept the fluting in a familiar proportion to the diameter of the column at any scale, even when the height of the column was exaggerated. Unlike Greek Doric fluting, which runs out to an arris or sharp edge, that
672-570: The Jandial temple near Taxila . Several examples of capitals displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far away as Patna , India , especially with the Pataliputra capital , dated to the 3rd century BC, and seemingly derived from the design of the Ionic anta capital, or the Sarnath capital , which has been described as "Perso-Ionic", or "quasi-Ionic". Vitruvius , a practicing architect who worked in
720-737: The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The Parthenon , although it conforms mainly to the Doric order, also has some Ionic elements. A more purely Ionic mode to be seen on the Athenian Acropolis is exemplified in the Erechtheum . Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, a few examples of the Ionic order can be found as far as Pakistan with
768-403: The neoclassical mansion Castle Coole ), or a swag of fruit and flowers may swing from the clefts or "neck" formed by the volutes. Originally, the volutes lay in a single plane ( illustration at right ); then it was seen that they could be angled out on the corners. This feature of the Ionic order made it more pliant and satisfactory than the Doric to critical eyes in the 4th century BC: angling
816-483: The volutes of its capital , which have been the subject of much theoretical and practical discourse, based on a brief and obscure passage in Vitruvius . The only tools required to design these features were a straight-edge, a right angle, string (to establish half-lengths) and a compass. Below the volutes, the Ionic column may have a wide collar or banding separating the capital from the fluted shaft (as in, for example,
864-538: The 1970s and 1980s, as the Revolutionary War's bicentennial set off a wave of patriotism and alerted Americans to the destruction of their physical heritage. The tradition of restoring homes of the past and designating them as museums draws on the English custom of preserving ancient buildings and monuments. Initially homes were considered worthy of saving because of their associations with important individuals, usually of
912-476: The Ionic order, in the area where the Doric order is articulated with triglyphs . Roman and Renaissance practice condensed the height of the entablature by reducing the proportions of the architrave, which made the frieze more prominent. The Ionic anta capital is the Ionic version of the anta capital , the crowning portion of an anta , which is the front edge of a supporting wall in Greek temple architecture. The anta
960-577: The Meander in Lydia (now Türkiye). Renaissance architectural theorists took his hints to interpret the Ionic order as matronly in comparison to the Doric order, though not as wholly feminine as the Corinthian order. The Ionic is a natural order for post-Renaissance libraries and courts of justice, learned and civilized. Because no treatises on classical architecture survive earlier than that of Vitruvius, identification of such "meaning" in architectural elements as it
1008-587: The column capitals. The Ionic anta capitals as can be seen in the Ionic order temple of the Erechtheion (circa 410 BCE), are characteristically rectangular Ionic anta capitals, with extensive bands of floral patterns in prolongation of adjoining friezes . The Ionic order originated in the mid-6th century BC in Ionia (broadly equivalent to modern day İzmir Province ), as well as the southwestern coastland and islands of Asia Minor settled by Ionians , where Ionic Greek
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#17330857420681056-419: The columns has three parts: a plain architrave divided into two, or more generally three, bands, with a frieze resting on it that may be richly sculptural, and a cornice built up with dentils (like the closely spaced ends of joists), with a corona ("crown") and cyma ("ogee") molding to support the projecting roof. Pictorial, often narrative, bas-relief frieze carving provides a characteristic feature of
1104-418: The door the second floor window is framed with a surround and entablature. The interior presents the appearance of symmetry where it is in fact not symmetrical, using false doors where necessary to maintain the illusion. The main rooms are the first-floor dining room and the second-floor ballroom immediately above, at the rear of the house overlooking the garden. The dining room features an opening, centered in
1152-403: The elite classes, like former presidents, authors, or businessmen. Increasingly, Americans have fought to preserve structures characteristic of a more typical American past that represents the lives of everyday people. Historic house museums usually operate with small staffs and on limited budgets. Many are run entirely by volunteers and often do not meet the professional standards established by
1200-420: The era, adding to authenticity. Collective memory is sometimes used in the resurrection of historic house museums; however, not all historic house museums use this approach. The notion of collective memory originated from philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs , in "La Memoire Collective" ("On Collective Memory", 1950). This extended thesis examines the role of people and place, and how collective memory
1248-529: The facade, that is treated as a door on the outside and as a window on the inside. The Hammond–Harwood House was featured in Bob Vila 's A&E Network production, Guide to Historic Homes of America, in the two-hour segment on the Mid-Atlantic States . Historic house museum Historic house museums are sometimes known as a "memory museum", which is a term used to suggest that the museum contains
1296-497: The great-grandson of William Buckland, the architect of the house. Hester Ann Harwood died intestate, and the house was sold in 1926 to St. John's College . The College used the house as a teaching tool for one of America's first courses taught on the decorative arts until financial necessity forced the college to sell to the Hammond–Harwood House Association in 1940. This non-profit corporation continues to own
1344-421: The home's history within different rooms or sections of the structure. Others choose one particular narrative, usually the one deemed most historically significant, and restore the home to that particular period. There are a number of organizations around the world that dedicate themselves to the preservation, restoration, or promotion of historic house museums. They include: Ionic order The Ionic order
1392-464: The house and operates it as a public museum. The house ranks architecturally with many of the great mansions built in the late Colonial period; however, it is the only house directly inspired from a plate in Palladio's, I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura . Architect William Buckland adapted Palladio's Villa Pisani design to satisfy the tastes of colonial Annapolis. He re-designed the plan to accommodate
1440-496: The house began about April 1774, and most of the house was probably completed before the death of the architect in November or December of the same year. Owner Matthias Hammond probably never occupied his elegant house because he abruptly left Annapolis for his family's country estate in 1776. He died in 1786 after renting out the house for many years. The house passed to his nephews John, and then to Philip Hammond, who eventually sold
1488-515: The house to Ninian Pinkney in 1810. Pinkney, however, quickly sold the house to Judge Jeremiah Chase in 1811. Judge Chase bought the house as a home for the family of his daughter, Frances Townley Chase Loockerman. Chase was well acquainted with the house because he had rented the northeast wing, beginning in the late 1770s. Judge Chase's descendants lived in the house until the death of his great-granddaughter Hester Ann Harwood in 1924. Her mother, Judge Chase's granddaughter, married William Harwood,
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1536-446: The inclusion of joyous festivals to mask the turmoil. The Hiroshima Traces (1999) text takes a look at the importance of collective memory and how it is embedded in culture and place. Thus, collective memory does not only reside in a house or building, but it also resonates in outdoor space – particularly when a monumental event has occurred, such as war. Problematic creation of collective memory occurs within historic house museums when
1584-589: The manly stamina combined with intellect of Theodore Roosevelt , he left colossal Ionic columns unfluted on the Roosevelt memorial at the American Museum of Natural History , New York City, for an unusual impression of strength and stature. Wabash Railroad architect R.E. Mohr included eight unfluted Ionic frontal columns on his 1928 design for the railroad's Delmar Boulevard station in St. Louis. The entablature resting on
1632-553: The museum industry. An independent survey conducted by Peggy Coats in 1990 revealed that sixty-five percent of historic house museums did not have a full-time staff, and 19 to 27 percent of historic homes employed only one full-time employee. Furthermore, the majority of these museums operated on less than $ 50,000 annually. The survey also revealed a significant disparity in the number of visitors between local house museums and national sites. While museums like Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg were visited by over one million tourists
1680-403: The narrative of all people who lived there is dangerous. While some plantation museum narratives have changed following an outcry from the public and the academy, "plantation museums reflect, create, and contribute to racialized ways of understanding and organizing the world" by limiting or eliminating the narrative of the enslaved inhabitants. A degree of authenticity is also to be considered in
1728-537: The narrative of non-family members is dismissed, ignored, or completely rejected. Within the Southern United States, plantation museums (the former homes of enslavers) constitute a significant portion of the museum community and contribute to the racialized collective memory of the United States. Because museums are responsible for "the building of identity, cultural memory and community", neglecting to include
1776-424: The people who lived there guides this approach, and dictates the manner in which it is completed. Another alternative approach, deployed by nonprofit organization House Museum , includes contemporary art integration, where artists are invited to respond to the physical and conceptual history of a site, thus injecting contemporary perspectives and value into historic places. In each kind of museum, visitors learn about
1824-472: The previous inhabitants through an explanation and exploration of social history . The idea of a historic house museum derives from a branch of history called social history that is solely based on people and their way of living. It became very popular in the mid-twentieth century among scholars who were interested in the history of people, as opposed to political and economical issues. Social history remains an influential branch of history. Philip J. Ethington,
1872-463: The public good and the preservation of American history, especially centered on the first U.S. president, General George Washington. Since the establishment of the country's first historic site in 1850, Washington's Revolutionary headquarters in New York, Americans have found a penchant for preserving similar historical structures. The establishment of historic house museums increased in popularity through
1920-405: The restoration and creation of a historic house museum. The space must be authentic in terms of truly replicating and representing the way it once stood in its original form and appear to be untouched and left in time. There are three steps when declaring if a space is authentic: The earliest projects for preserving historic homes began in the 1850s under the direction of individuals concerned with
1968-699: The tastes for asymmetrical regional preferences and modified the hyphens from Palladio's arched entries to more practical single storey connecting links. He also incorporated fashionable urban design by sinking the windows in the method mandated by the London Building Act of 1774. This device provided better protection from fire and gave the overall design a greater degree of visual solidity and three dimensionality (see image at right). This adaptation from Palladio's model marks his maturity as an architect and ranks him as one of America's first and finest architects. The initial design of Thomas Jefferson 's Monticello
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2016-429: The time of Augustus , reports that the Doric column had its initial basis in the proportions of the male body, while Ionic columns took on a "slenderness" inspired by the female body. Though he does not name his source for such a self-conscious and "literary" approach, it must be in traditions passed on from Hellenistic architects, such as Hermogenes of Priene , the architect of a famed temple of Artemis at Magnesia on
2064-472: The volutes on the corner columns ensured that they "read" equally when seen from either front or side facade. However, some classical artists viewed this as unsatisfactory, feeling that the placement of Ionic columns at building corners required a distortion at the expense of the capital's structural logic; the Corinthian order would solve this by reading equally well from all angles. The 16th-century Renaissance architect and theorist Vincenzo Scamozzi designed
2112-564: Was designed by the architect William Buckland in 1773–1774 for wealthy farmer Matthias Hammond of Anne Arundel County , Maryland . It was modeled on the design of the Villa Pisani in Montagnana , Italy , as depicted in Book II, Chapter XIV of Palladio's work. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, and is now managed by a non-profit organization as a museum. Construction on
2160-467: Was easily damaged by people brushing it as they passed by, Ionic fluting leaves a little flat-seeming surface of the column surface between each hollow (in fact it is a small segment of a circle around the column). In some instances, the fluting has been omitted. English architect Inigo Jones introduced a note of sobriety with plain Ionic columns on his Banqueting House, Whitehall , London, and when Beaux-Arts architect John Russell Pope wanted to convey
2208-529: Was extensive. He referred to the book as his architectural "bible" and the plate of the Villa Cornaro follows the Villa Pisani plate; and directly opposite the Villa Cornaro in some 18th-century English transcriptions of the work. The Hammond–Harwood House is a five-part brick house with a five-bay two-story central block, two-story end wings and one-story connecting hyphens on either side. The central block has
2256-505: Was spoken. The Ionic order column was being practiced in mainland Greece in the 5th century BC. It was most popular in the Archaic Period (750–480 BC) in Ionia. The first of the great Ionic temples was the Temple of Hera on Samos , built about 570–560 BC by the architect Rhoikos . It stood for only a decade before it was leveled by an earthquake. A longer-lasting 6th century Ionic temple was
2304-633: Was taken from the Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese , Italy , in Book II, Chapter XV of I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura , but this façade was later covered up by Jefferson's own expansions to his house. Thomas Jefferson made two drawings of the Hammond–Harwood House when he served the government in Annapolis in 1783–1784. One could assume that Jefferson recognized the house as derived from Palladio because his knowledge of The Four Books of Architecture
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