House Museum Site Visits
These site visits focused on three particular museums: Sir John Soane’s House and Museum, the Benjamin Franklin House, and the Boston Manor House. Each of these house museums had a different focus in terms of their interpretation. At the same time, each home displayed elements of being based on architecture, a famous resident, and/or a specific time period. These homes will form the basis of my future comparisons with American house museums and will provide examples that illustrate several of the issues which will be addressed in the strategic plan for the Rosenbaum House.
The houses were comparable in size but all faced vastly different issues. The most important issue is funding. Each museum approached funding differently. John Soane’s and the Benjamin Franklin House enjoy diverse funding streams. They receive funding from the National Lottery, private groups, entertainment services, and admission fees. While John Soane’s House generates much more revenue than the Benjamin Franklin House, they are both protected from the loss of a single revenue source. The Boston Manor House, like the Rosenbaum House, is largely dependent on local government money. Through an interview with a member of the Friends of the Church Farmhouse group, it became clear that a lack of diversified revenue streams can be fatal.[1] This information will be used to formulate an objective as part of the overall strategic plan that will seek to discover and cultivate sustainable, viable, and diverse revenue streams for the Rosenbaum House.
The need for a marketing strategy as part of the overall strategic plan became apparent through the study of the Boston Manor House. This home, which is located in a beautiful park, fails to market itself as a destination that people would want to visit. The lack of a clear strategy has led to very few people being aware that the museum exists. Due to this lack of exposure, the home suffers from sporadic attendance. The Rosenbaum House experiences similar issues because there is no clear strategy to market the museum to its full potential. Viability research will be conducted in order to determine strategies for marketing the Rosenbaum House in such a way that will increase attendance, widen its potential audience, and create a consistent revenue stream. These plans will included an investigation into the feasibility of re-purposing the adjacent Board of Education property into a tourist center along with the development of improved services such as restrooms and parking space. This will require research into possibility of building new structures on the site, expanding the museum’s footprint, and possibly rerouting Grove Street. These vital services will be necessary not only in order to draw and retain visitors but also to cope with an increase in attendance. This aspect of the project will require speaking with city officials and marketing experts in order to determine the most cost effective marketing strategy.
An increase in the use of technology at the Rosenbaum House will also be considered as part of the strategic plan. Plans to increase interactivity and improved presentation methods will be based on a case study of the Benjamin Franklin House. This museum features “Historical Experience” tours that seeks to effectively utilize its small space by blending live performances, sound, lighting, and visual projection in order to bring the history of this home alive. As part of this aspect of the project, special focus has been placed on studying museum presentation technology during the museums site visits in London. The project will seek to determine the most cost effective and applicable technologies available as well as creating plans for implementation and budgeting.
[1] The London Borough of Barnet, the owners of the Church Farmhouse Museum, closed it on 31 March 2011 as part of their austerity measures and made the staff redundant.
The houses were comparable in size but all faced vastly different issues. The most important issue is funding. Each museum approached funding differently. John Soane’s and the Benjamin Franklin House enjoy diverse funding streams. They receive funding from the National Lottery, private groups, entertainment services, and admission fees. While John Soane’s House generates much more revenue than the Benjamin Franklin House, they are both protected from the loss of a single revenue source. The Boston Manor House, like the Rosenbaum House, is largely dependent on local government money. Through an interview with a member of the Friends of the Church Farmhouse group, it became clear that a lack of diversified revenue streams can be fatal.[1] This information will be used to formulate an objective as part of the overall strategic plan that will seek to discover and cultivate sustainable, viable, and diverse revenue streams for the Rosenbaum House.
The need for a marketing strategy as part of the overall strategic plan became apparent through the study of the Boston Manor House. This home, which is located in a beautiful park, fails to market itself as a destination that people would want to visit. The lack of a clear strategy has led to very few people being aware that the museum exists. Due to this lack of exposure, the home suffers from sporadic attendance. The Rosenbaum House experiences similar issues because there is no clear strategy to market the museum to its full potential. Viability research will be conducted in order to determine strategies for marketing the Rosenbaum House in such a way that will increase attendance, widen its potential audience, and create a consistent revenue stream. These plans will included an investigation into the feasibility of re-purposing the adjacent Board of Education property into a tourist center along with the development of improved services such as restrooms and parking space. This will require research into possibility of building new structures on the site, expanding the museum’s footprint, and possibly rerouting Grove Street. These vital services will be necessary not only in order to draw and retain visitors but also to cope with an increase in attendance. This aspect of the project will require speaking with city officials and marketing experts in order to determine the most cost effective marketing strategy.
An increase in the use of technology at the Rosenbaum House will also be considered as part of the strategic plan. Plans to increase interactivity and improved presentation methods will be based on a case study of the Benjamin Franklin House. This museum features “Historical Experience” tours that seeks to effectively utilize its small space by blending live performances, sound, lighting, and visual projection in order to bring the history of this home alive. As part of this aspect of the project, special focus has been placed on studying museum presentation technology during the museums site visits in London. The project will seek to determine the most cost effective and applicable technologies available as well as creating plans for implementation and budgeting.
[1] The London Borough of Barnet, the owners of the Church Farmhouse Museum, closed it on 31 March 2011 as part of their austerity measures and made the staff redundant.