Forest Park home of Dr. Seuss to become a museum within five years

July 17, 2019 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

The boyhood home of Dr. Seuss is being renovated for its new role as a museum, gallery and innovation center.
Reminder Publishing photo by G. Michael Dobbs

SPRINGFIELD – The only clue to the history of the house at 74 Fairfield St. in the Forest Park neighborhood is a sign on the front of the house depicting the Cat in the Hat.

The Springfield Museums is undertaking a five-year restoration and development of Ted Geisel’s – Dr. Seuss – family home into a museum, gallery space and an innovation center.

“We’re hoping to tell the story of Ted’s childhood and what Springfield was like at the time,” Karen Fisk, director of Marketing and Communication Strategy for the museums, explained.

The work was funded by a grant through the Dr. Seuss Foundation.

A construction crew was working on the exterior. Right now the interior is empty, awaiting some renovations and preservation work.

Fisk noted the Geisel family moved into the house in 1906 when Geisel was two years old. William and John McKnight, who developed the McKnight neighborhood in the city, built the house.

At the entrance to the home is a well-lit room that served as a music room, where the Geisel family played a piano and sang.

“He remembered those times very fondly,” Fisk said of Geisel.

To the left was the living room, which is the only room for which a contemporary photo exists. Fisk said the intent is to furnish the house with the kind of furniture the Geisel family probably had. Unlike other historic home museums, though, the visitors could use these furnishings.

The living room does have a contemporary brick fireplace, which will be removed and replaced with one keeping with the original. Fisk said museums officials hope that under the new fireplace there are remains of the original.

As evident throughout the house there is original wood trim and built-in cabinets. The original hardwood floor will be refinished.

The dining room, with its stained glass window, will be used for a gallery, Fisk said.  

The only room in the house that has been modernized was the kitchen. Fisk said it would be altered to allow for the construction of an ADA compliant rest room.

On the second floor are two rooms that play a significant role in Geisel’s life. One room at the front of the house is where his father had his home office. Fisk explained this is where Geisel completed his first sale to a New York City-based publication, giving him the confidence to make a move to that city to pursue his career.

The other is Geisel’s childhood bedroom. It is at the back of the house overlooking the family’s standalone garage – a rarity at the time – and the back yard gardens. Volunteers from the Springfield Garden Club are helping the museum research and design a garden that would be appropriate for the house’s age.

Across the hall was Geisel’s sister’s room where he drew on the plaster walls. Fisk noted the walls there now are not the original plaster, but since Geisel’s parents didn’t mind him drawing on the walls, the hope is that during the renovations an original and early Dr. Seuss drawing will be found.

His parents’ room on the second floor has the original bathroom that Geisel and his father built. It will be preserved.

The third floor will not be part of the public area, but Fisk showed me the room that was used by the servant, complete with two sets of hooks at the top of the walls. Fisk said historians believe lines for drying laundry were suspended from the hooks.

When eventually open, visits will be limited to Friday through Sunday by tour only in vans originating at the Springfield Museums. “We want to be respectful of the impact to the neighborhood,” Fisk said.   

“Ted’s House will add yet another reason for visitors to travel to Springfield to see the beloved author’s hometown,” said Kay Simpson, CEO and president of the Springfield Museums. “We are deeply grateful to the Dr. Seuss Foundation for helping us make our vision of a house museum dedicated to Dr. Seuss a reality.”

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