Twain, Wharton Homes = Among Historic Houses In Financial Jeapardy

Twain,=20 Wharton Homes Among Historic Houses In Financial Jeapardy

STEPHANIE=20 REITZ | June 17, 2008 12:00 AM EST | 3DAP=20 =

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Adrian and Elizabeth Reddall of England, right, = listen to=20 historic interpreter Martha Czernicki, left, lead a tour of The Mark = Twain House=20 in Hartford, Conn., Wednesday, June 4, 2008. Mark Twain, Edith Wharton = and a=20 host of other boldfaced names among the dead have something in common = with=20 living Americans in these hard financial times: Their homes are in = jeopardy. For=20 scores of historic house museums, simply keeping the lights on has = become a=20 challenge. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill).

HARTFORD, Conn. =E2=80=94 Mark Twain, Edith Wharton and other = boldfaced names among=20 the dead have something in common with living Americans in these hard = financial=20 times:

Their homes are in jeopardy.

For scores of historic house museums, simply keeping the lights on = has become=20 a challenge. The Mount, Wharton's home in Lenox, Mass., is trying to = stave off=20 foreclosure with a feverish fundraising campaign. The Twain House in = Hartford=20 can't even afford to buy energy-saving light bulbs that would slash its = electric=20 bill.

Experts say this summer may make or break some sites, many of which = already=20 have cut their hours and staff and are struggling for donations in = today's=20 troubled economy.

"The jury's really still out on how summer visitation will be, how = people=20 will respond to gas prices and what it will mean for us," said Susan = Wissler,=20 acting president of The Mount, which needs $6 million by Oct. 31 to = avoid=20 foreclosure.

The Twain House and Museum is in similar straits, trying to repay a = $4.9=20 million bank loan from earlier expansions and meet its $2.9 million = yearly=20 budget.

They already cut two-thirds of the staff and made other reductions, = but had=20 barely enough money to pay three weeks' worth of bills before recent = publicity=20 generated a spate of donations.

Many house museums, especially smaller sites, get little or no = government=20 help. Tourist dollars, donations, interest earned on endowment funds and = corporate gifts _ all highly dependent on the economy _ help keep the = doors=20 open.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation estimates there are = between=20 9,000 and 10,000 historic home museums nationwide.

Some, like the Twain and Wharton homes, are established landmarks run = by=20 nonprofit groups. Thousands of others are homesteads of early settlers,=20 birthplaces of noteworthy Americans or other modest sites run by local=20 historical societies and volunteers.

"Many of them are operating on a shoestring, but they're very = important to=20 their communities and people put in a lot of volunteer time and effort = just to=20 keep them going," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for = Historic=20 Preservation.

"It's a complex financial situation out there for a lot of museums, = and=20 there's no question that house museums are facing some unique challenges = these=20 days," he said.

Even government ownership isn't a guarantee of security. As states = and=20 municipalities cut their budgets, many have reduced the hours at the = historic=20 homes they operate or turned the sites over to private groups.

The tiny northern Vermont birthplace of President Chester A. Arthur = reduced=20 its hours from five days weekly to two this summer to reflect state = budget=20 cuts.

The Ohio Historical Society this spring increased admission fees for = the=20 first time in four years. It also cut jobs and sliced hours at many = sites,=20 including the Marion home where Warren G. Harding launched his 1920 = presidential=20 campaign.

For the Twain and Wharton houses, yesterday's improvement projects = are=20 today's financial burden.

Jeffrey Nichols, the Twain House and Museum's executive director = since April,=20 says officials now recognize that a $19 million visitor center that = opened in=20 2003 was too ambitious and costly.

The gingerbread Gothic home was built in 1874 by the author and = humorist who,=20 coincidentally, often struggled with debt and had to sell the home in = 1903. It=20 was here that he wrote his masterpiece, "Huckleberry Finn."

"The museum saw a great opportunity to expand and to better preserve = and=20 spread Mark Twain's legacy, but in retrospect, it did overreach," = Nichols=20 said.

In that regard, the Twain House is like private homes throughout = America=20 where residents expanded during heady economic times or used home equity = credit=20 lines, subprime mortgages and private loans they now struggle to = repay.

The Mount finds itself in similar straits.

The restoration of its mansion and gardens is lauded in architectural = and=20 historical circles, and its 2005 purchase of Wharton's personal library = for $2.6=20 million was even singled out by first lady Laura Bush for special = praise.

But the seller is British, so payments skyrocketed as the British = pound's=20 value has pummeled that of the dollar.

The group has received $900,000 in donations since February, but = needs $3=20 million by Halloween to secure a promise of matching money from an = anonymous=20 donor and avoid foreclosure.

Wharton designed and built the 1902 home, where she later finished = "The House=20 of Mirth" and got the inspiration for "Ethan Frome." She lived there = until 1910,=20 when her marriage collapsed and she moved to France.

Wissler said the organization that runs the home reduced its staff,=20 negotiated fixed rates on some utility bills and is working with the = bank to=20 restructure the loan terms.

"No one has faulted the quality of the restoration or what we did = with every=20 dollar," she said. "We've expanded our facilities very carefully. What's = occurring now is a timing issue as much as anything."

First-time visitor Jocelyn Ramella of Charlestown, Mass., said she = toured The=20 Mount after reading of its plight and realizing she knew very little = about the=20 property.

"I think it's definitely worth preserving," she said as she headed = toward the=20 gardens on a recent afternoon. "It's a very special place and now that I = know=20 how beautiful it is, it'd be so sad if we lost it."

Visitors to Hartford's Twain House had similar feelings.

"I am surprised there would be any question about whether it could = continue,"=20 said Adrian Reddall, who toured with his wife, Elizabeth.

"I would hope the idea of preservation, which we're very hot on in = England,=20 would be catching on enough in America that this (site) stays = protected,"=20 Reddall said.

___

On the Web:

The Mark Twain House: http://www.marktwainhouse.org/

The Mount: http://www.edithwharton.org/

National Trust for Historic Preservation: http://www.preservationnation= .org/

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