FDR Home in Hyde Park Preparing to Close for 7 Months

After 75 years the FDR home in Hyde Park is closing for a much-needed makeover.

The enormous preservation effort will result in many upgrades both seen and unseen. This fall, visitors will be greeted with exterior structural repairs and a new paint job. Inside, the plaster walls will be repaired and repainted and many of the household furnishings will also be preserved. Behind the scenes, upgrades will also be made to the home's mechanical system.

A restoration of this scale is something that requires lots of preparation. The museum and maintenance staffs have been working for the past few months to coordinate the dismantling of the home and protect the museum's collections. Visitors ahead of the April 1 shut down will notice that historic furnishings and other items are already being removed from the home.

The National Park Service's Facebook page shows images of chairs and other pieces of furniture moved to rooms not affected by the restoration. Before and after photos of FDR's office shows just how much has already been removed. Carpets, books and even FDR's stamp collection have all been put away in storage for safekeeping before work begins

If you are planning a trip to the FDR site, don't worry, even though the home will be closing the library and museum will be up and running, as well as other buildings around the property. Tours are still being given at Springwood through March 31, but visitors will probably notice that some of the rooms are already emptied out.

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