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29-549: Brantwood is a historic house museum in Cumbria , England, overlooking Coniston Water . It has been the home of a number of prominent people. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust , the house being a museum dedicated to John Ruskin , one of its final owners. Brantwood is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building , and buildings in

58-454: A "memory museum", which is a term used to suggest that the museum contains 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

87-669: 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

116-564: A different subject was covered, namely Art, Literature and Sociology. His evening assistant when he was absent was a Richard Hosken who had been a former student. When he was in residence, Ruskin filled the house with art, including paintings by Gainsborough , Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites and a collection of minerals , pottery and sea-shells . Ruskin was joined in the house by Arthur Severn, an artist married to Joan Agnew, his cousin and their growing family. A frequent visitor to

145-500: A number of owners, the estate and house were enlarged around 1833. In the middle of the 19th century the resident was Josiah Hudson, father of Charles Hudson who was an Anglican priest and an early mountaineer . In 1852 the resident was the Victorian wood engraver , poet , artist , book illustrator and social reformer William James Linton who bought the house the following year. Between 1858 and 1864, while Linton

174-486: 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

203-402: A series of steep and winding paths. After his death, more ornamental shrubs and trees were planted. The area then became overgrown until it was rediscovered in the 1980s and it has been much restored since. The estate covers around 250 acres (1.0 km) and includes lakeshore, pasture , oak woods, and moorland . Historic house museum Historic house museums are sometimes known as

232-644: A successful movement to have Brantwood made into a museum. The house was saved for the nation by John Howard Whitehouse, founder of Bembridge School and of the Birmingham Ruskin Society, who bought the house. He established the Brantwood Trust , a registered charity , in 1951 to care for the property for posterity. The house is listed at Grade II*. The following rooms are open to the public. The drawing room still includes Ruskin's secretaire , bookcase and shell-cabinet. The wallpaper

261-400: 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

290-523: Is a copy of Ruskin's design and his drawing of the north porch of St. Mark's, Venice , hangs above the shell-cabinet. Next door is the study where Ruskin worked which contains a painting by Samuel Prout . The dining room , built in 1878, has views over to the Coniston mountains through its seven lancet windows . It contains a portrait of Ruskin aged 3 painted by James Northcote . The old dining room contains some early drawings by Ruskin. Upstairs in

319-455: Is likely he may have had some prior knowledge of the property. Before Ruskin came to Brantwood in the following year, he arranged for repairs to the house, the addition of a turret , the building of a lodge for his valet and his family and for improvements to the garden. For a short time during his stay at Brantwood, Ruskin held tutorial sessions, what would be called today as teaching seminars. These were held three times each week and each day

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348-551: 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

377-551: 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

406-579: The death of Ruskin in 1900, the house and estate were inherited by the Severn family. In Ruskin's will , the wish was expressed that the house should be open for 30 days a year for visitors to see his house and collection. However, the Severns did not honour this intention and they sold many of the better pictures. After the death of Arthur Severn in 1931, the remaining contents of the house were sold by auction. Emily Warren , John Ruskin's last pupil, instigated

435-403: 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

464-420: 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

493-506: The grounds are also listed. Brant is an old Norse word meaning "steep" and the house and grounds are situated on a steep wooded area overlooking the lake. Before the house was built the site was regarded as an "essential viewing point" for early visitors to the Lake District in the 18th century. The original house was built at the end of the 18th century by Thomas Woodville and consisted of between 6 and 8 rooms. After

522-456: 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: Bembridge School Too Many Requests If you report this error to

551-417: The house was William Gershom Collingwood , painter, archaeologist and translator of Nordic sagas who lived nearby. In 1878, a new dining room was built at the south end of the house. A second storey was added around 1890 to provide additional rooms for the Severn family and a studio was built at the rear of the house for the use of Arthur Severn. During this time the estate was also extended. Following

580-446: 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

609-553: 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

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638-403: 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

667-554: 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

696-472: 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,

725-468: 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

754-405: 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

783-512: The story of a particular area, social-class or historical period. The " narrative " of 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

812-591: The turret is Ruskin's bedroom. In the grounds are four more listed buildings. The lodge and former stable are listed at Grade II*. Listed at Grade II are the former coach house and stable, another outbuilding, and an ice house . In the Linton Room in the Linton Building, there is a lithophone , called "The Musical Stones", which visitors may play. The garden was used by Ruskin to experiment in various forms of cultivation and drainage and it contains

841-456: Was living in London, the house was let to Gerald Massey , poet and Egyptologist . Linton emigrated with his children to America in 1867. In 1869, George William Kitchin , later Dean of Durham Cathedral , took up residence at Brantwood. In 1871 the house was sold to John Ruskin who it is claimed had never previously seen it. However, Kitchin and Ruskin were friends, having met at Oxford, so it

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