Doylestown's Hammerstein Nonprofit Partners With Hemingway Home

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The non-profit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center has announced an alliance with The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida.

The local organization will be working with Andrew Morawski, the Director of the Hemingway Home and Museum, with an aim to model the success they’ve cultivated, according to information from the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center.

"This alliance between the Hemingway and Hammerstein museums, provides resources and invaluable insights into the operation and processes necessary to run a home museum that provides a unique and compelling guest experience, and accurately presents the attributes and history of the property in a way that is accessible, enlightening and intimate," the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center said in an announcement.

The Doylestown-based Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center recently launched a three-phase fundraising campaign to support the non-profit’s ongoing vision to secure the Highland Farm property and create an on-site museum and theatre education center.

The Hemingway Home features a two-story home, tropical gardens, a wrap-around porch and balcony, an in-ground pool, stand-alone writing room, and many cats.

The Hammerstein property, also known as Highland Farm, is located in Doylestown and features a three-story residence, wrap-around porch and balcony, an in-ground pool, 4-acres of grounds, and a historic barn.

“You can take a historical figure and attempt to tell their history in a way that captivates people, or you can open the door and invite people into their home, which gives that person's history a true feeling. For both the Hemingway and Hammerstein museums, we’re not only preserving the person behind the history, but the actual home itself. This experience goes beyond what a regular museum or a classroom can convey or deliver,” Morawski said in a news release.

Keith Fenimore, President of the Board of The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center, said the partnership was a "major advantage."

“The success of home-based museums requires a number of attributes. Relevance is key, but not enough; factors like international fame and notoriety, works that are timeless, in abundance, and are directly and intimately tied to the property, are all a must. I am happy to report that, like Hemingway, Hammerstein’s home possesses all of these unique characteristics. History was written within these walls, so offering a visitor the opportunity to stand in the very room where Oscar penned The Sound of Music, can only happen in one place on earth, Highland Farm,” Fenimore said.

The organization is currently fundraising to allow it to secure, renovate, and preserve Highland Farm, the Hammerstein property located at 70 East Road. The home and barn will then be converted into a Museum and Theatre Education Center.

As part of the three-phase plan, the nonprofit first will secure two parcels at the rear of the property currently owned by a developer who has an approved subdivision plan for the property.

Phase 2 will involve purchasing and renovating Oscar’s 1840 manor home and curating the museum, and Phase 3 will focus on transforming the large bank barn on the property into a state-of-the-art theatre education center. The initial fundraising target for Phases 1 and 2, which will secure the property and ensure its preservation into the future, has been set at $2 million.