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These museums are also unique in that the actual structure belongs to the museum collection as a historical object.

While some historic home museums are fortunate to possess a collection containing many of the original furnishings once present in the home, many face the challenge of displaying a collection consistent with the historical structure.

Some museums choose to collect pieces original to the period while not original to the house.

Others, fill the home with replicas of the original pieces reconstructed with the help of historic records.

Still other museums adopt a more aesthetic approach and use the homes to display the architecture and artistic objects.

Because historic homes have often existed through different generations and have been passed on from one family to another, volunteers and professionals also must decide which historical narrative to tell their visitors.

Some museums grapple with this issue by displaying different eras in the home ’ s history within different rooms or sections of the structure.

Others choose one particular narrative, usually the one deemed most historically significant, and restore the home to that particular period.