East London's Geffrye Museum will reopen on 19 September* with an £18m facelift — and a brand new name.
The Geffrye has been dropped and now it's just going by Museum of the Home. Don't worry, it's still in the Grade I listed almshouse buildings in Hoxton. Though the much-loved 'rooms through time' exhibition will remain in situ, the revamp boasts a plethora of new features including a learning pavilion and studio; a collections library — opening up the museum archive to the public; and an entrance directly opposite Hoxton Overground station (saving you from those mildly irritating detours around the side).
In all, there's 80% more display space, filled with 500 previously unseen objects. 'Diverse, thought-provoking and personal stories about home' are promised — and new exhibitions and collections include the Documenting Homes Collection (stories, interviews and photographs of homes from the past 100 years) and In the Garden (a photographic series of older Hackney residents and their gardens).
Experiences of the home from 1600 to present day will be covered, while the local Hoxton area — known historically for it furniture-making and market gardening — gets a special look-in.
As for those who always loved the museum's walled herb garden — even better news. The existing garden will now be open year-round, and the museum will also be graced with an eco-friendly roof garden.
Sonia Solicari, Director, Museum of the Home, said:
Our new displays, spaces and stories will be a starting point for ideas and conversation about what home means. I hope every visitor will feel at home here and be able to relate their own experiences and ideas of home to the stories we share.
£600k of the museum's £18.1m fundraising target is still left to raise — you can help by donating to Sow a Seed, an online fundraising campaign.
*The Museum of the Home says it will continue to closely monitor the situation and any impact it may have on its reopening date.
