Category:Historic house museums

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Historic house museums are a very special kind of museum that appeals to many kinds of visitors, from those "merely" curious to fans and scholars, alike. Very different from more well-known kinds of museums in many ways, historic house museums also may differ a great deal one from another. Some may be organized around the personality, or social role, of the erstwhile owner, and therefore will contain objects once really belonging to the house and its inhabitants, while others may be partially or completely reconstructed in order to tell the story of a particular area, kind of life, period in time, and so forth. Each kind of approach--one guided by "authenticity," the other by "narrative"--are valid, however, it is fundamental that visitors are informed about what they are seeing, so that they do not mistake a helpful reconstruction for an original object, or ambiance. Important to all historic house museums, however, is that the structure once was intended, or at least used, as a place of human habitation, and that the contents of the structure, now a museum, were intended for such places. Thus, if historic structures, though once homes, do not principally contain objects originally intended for the home AND have them arranged in a home-like ambiance, but instead have such objects arranged like a more typical museum, OR principally contain displays and objects not originally intended for a home, then they should not be called "historic house museums."

For further information about historic house museums, please consult local associations, the "house" category of museums in the third level domain dedicated to museums called ".museum", and/or DEMHIST, ICOM's International Committee for Historic House Museums.