Group Launches $2M Effort To #SaveOscarsHome In Doylestown

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A new effort to save Oscar Hammerstein's home in Doylestown has been launched. The property, located on East Road, is now a bed and breakfast. But a group of dedicated volunteers are working to raise money to turn it into a museum and education center.

The nonprofit organization, The Oscar Hammerstein Museum & Theatre Education Center, is working to raise $2 million to purchase and restore the historic property. The group wants to turn the farm of the famous librettist and lyricist into a museum and education center, and use the barn as well as the historic house to carry out their vision.

The property, which in the past was proposed to be a theater, is currently in jeopardy of sale and a four-lot subdivision, advocates behind the #SaveOscarsHome effort say.

"The goal is to create a multifaceted and dynamic museum experience with a strong theater education component that will serve as a place of inspiration for Broadway fans and humanitarians alike, from Hammerstein's backyard and across the world," the nonprofit said in a statement announcing its new website and call-to-action video.

The video, developed and produced by All Systems Go AV, was created to highlight Hammerstein's most popular works. You can see it here.

The goal is to raise the $2 million by 2020 and open the museum by 2021, said Christine Cole, the current property owner who is working to see that it's preserved.

Cole said the group is aiming to make the interior of the museum feel like it did when the Hammersteins lived there for 20 years, during which time he wrote some of his most famous works.

The property includes a barn, which will be reconstructed into the education center, as well as the county's first in-ground swimming pool, according to Cole. The pool will remain as part of the site redevelopment project.

Our current plans for the center include a guided tour of the historic home where Oscar lived for 20 years while writing his “big five” — Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King & I and The Sound of Music. After viewing a short film, visitors will explore the converted bank barn, a museum showcasing interactive, multimedia exhibits featuring Oscar I, Oscar II, his mentors, collaborators, and protégés. The barn will also become the new home of the Theatre Arts Center, where young aspiring theatre artists can hone their singing, dancing and acting skills, inspired by Oscar’s legacy.

You can see a site plan and a proposed barn museum floor diagram here.

To contribute to the effort, visit the site's donation page.