Grand Re-Opening Coming Soon: Notes from the Director’s Chair
By Vonda Givens, Executive Director
I can’t think of an autumn I’ve looked forward to more than the season coming up. This fall we will finally complete construction on the Annex rehabilitation and Log House Kitchen restoration, and their completion means that we will finally be able to share all we’ve been working on for the past two years.
We will fully re-open the museum in a way that has not been possible since March 2020, when the pandemic closed our doors to tours. Later that year, a tropical storm brought severe damage to the Annex, the structure adjacent to the Log House (see the photo at right of the massive, uprooted poplar that crushed the upper floor of the Annex, while its Stickley-era stone columns remained unharmed.)
Addressing this damage further delayed a full re-opening as the museum’s leadership worked on plans to rebuild, then pursued funding, and finally commenced construction. Facing repeated challenges, construction has extended more than a year past the expected completion date, and while we have offered museum tours and special events on the weekends during this time, the ongoing work in the heart of the property has made a robust re-opening impossible.
But now, the end of construction is in sight, and with it, the beginning of a new era. Although it is coming later than expected, in some ways, the timing could not be better. The end of construction and our full re-opening will coincide with the museum’s 35th Anniversary celebration! This fall we’ll be celebrating our 35th Anniversary amid a transformed Craftsman Farms campus!
The newly rebuilt Annex is now the Annex Visitor Pavilion and the main entrance for museum visitors. The Pavilion will be home to The Craftsman Shop, which will feature an expanded selection of items, including longtime customer favorites and shop exclusives, from custom copper plaques to jewelry inspired by the museum’s collections. Lighting, repairs to the bluestone pavers, and a new railing have improved the Annex’s Ruth Cruess Glesmann Walkway, making it available and accessible to all visitors. This relocated entrance will also reduce wear-and-tear on the Log House.
Visitors to the Log House will now begin their tours in the fully restored Kitchen—a project that has been along held dream of this organization. The effort has included the painstaking restoration of the Kitchen’s original doors (which is pictured in progress below.)
The interpreted Log House Kitchen will feature the original stove and hood, both carefully restored, and a rotating display, including china from The Craftsman Restaurant. The Log House Porch, which for many years has served as an orientation space for visitors, will now be visited on tour as a fully-furnished period room, featuring the museum’s collection of willow furnishings.
Throughout the fall, we’ll be enjoying a fully open and transformed campus, but we particularly invite you to be a part of two special events coming up on Saturday, October 5. The first is Member Day. During this event, we will close our doors to the public for the day and invite Members to enjoy the property with activities planned especially with them in mind. The second event, the museum’s most important annual fundraiser, newly christened the Harvest Party, will take place in the evening on October 5, and this year, it will be held at the Raritan Inn’s rustic and beautiful 1850s barn.
As we have awaited the end of construction, we have all missed year-round programs and the regular ebb and flow of museum foot traffic. This is why I feel a special pleasure when I invite you to visit (maybe for the first time or maybe a return trip to see everything that’s new!) and—I haven’t been able to say this in years!—I hope to see you soon at Craftsman Farms!