RESTORING THE MANSION
Victoria Mansion is dedicated to preserving the building and collections, and restoring them to their original appearance during the Morse era. A recently-completed capital campaign has allowed the museum to address such critical issues as drainage around the building and electrical wiring, as well as to restore the magnificent stained glass skylight and conserve the furniture and chestnut wood paneling in the dining room. And, though more than 90% of the original contents are already in the house, original objects are still added to the collection on occasion. Funding from many sources, including foundations and individuals, allows the museum to continue to preserve and restore the house for future generations to visit, study, and enjoy.

PRESERVING THE BUILDING
In 2000 Victoria Mansion was able to move forward with an intensive study of the problem of the deterioration of the building’s brownstone exterior, supported by funding from the Getty Grant Program. The brownstone study has been coordinated by Ann Beha Architects of Boston, and will lead to a substantial report that will make the findings available to other organizations and private individuals who oversee brownstone buildings.

RESTORING THE INTERIORS
When the Mansion was completed in 1860, a 6 x 25-foot stained glass skylight was the crowning glory of the three-story stair hall. Sadly, the skylight was destroyed by the Great Hurricane of 1938. About half the glass survived, however, and was dismantled and carefully stored in the attic for over sixty years. After more than two years of restoration work, involving research to reconstruct the original composition and methods of manufacture, and reproduction of the missing glass, the skylight was installed and unveiled to an eager public in April 2001. The results have transformed the building, bringing it dramatically closer to its appearance in 1860, while also enriching the experience of every visitor.

CONSERVING THE COLLECTIONS
Victoria Mansion was pleased to lend one of its greatest objects, the magnificent reception room cabinet created by Gustave Herter, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the 2000-2001 exhibition Art and the Empire City: New York 1825-1860. With grant funding, the Mansion was able to have the cabinet conserved before the loan, restoring one of Gustave Herter’s most exciting creations.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS
In 1999, the museum was delighted to receive a significant gift of original china from a Morse heir. Before the gift of 38 pieces, the Mansion had only four pieces of the red luncheon service, which now offers a dynamic contrast to the green dinner service. The original Morse porcelain, made in France, was the finest available in 1860. Such small objects original to the house lend immediacy to the visitor’s experience of the Mansion as an authentic interior created around 1860.