Playing House at a Museum: The Edward Gorey House

The Edward Gorey House
8 Strawberry Lane
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675

Corman, Richard. Edward Gorey.

            As speculated in An Anarchist's Guide to Historic House Museums, "Historic House Museums seem to struggle with constant identity crises. Are they Houses or are they Museums?”[1] Challenging this question is a small house museum in Yarmouth Port, MA; The Edward Gorey House.[2] Operating as a small house museum and personal archive, the EGH successfully merges the identities of both house and museum. The mission of the EGH “celebrates and preserves the life and works of Edward Gorey, an American author, illustrator, playwright, set and costume designer … honors Gorey’s passion and concern for animals … [and] strives to educate and inspire its visitors, offering a unique introduction to Edward Gorey, the artist and person.”[3] The EGH is a legacy place for the artist who resided there for over fifteen years.[4] With proper presentation of unique collections, an open floor plan, collaboration with other institutions, and a set vision, the EGH promotes the essence of the artist and sets precedence for small house museums.
            The house, owned and lived in by Edward Gorey, continues to reflect his distinct personality through the museum’s display of unique collections. The bulk of the collection includes original artworks and illustrations created by Gorey. Many of the artworks are framed or preserved in built-in glass cabinets of the house’s infrastructure, while some are in museum quality display cases. In addition to his artworks, other types of collections include toys, books, glass bottles, figurines, ceramics, art supplies, costumes, jewelry, theatre memorabilia, kitchen wears, and house furniture. Edward Gorey was known to collect discarded objects found on the side of the road. Objects are arranged with natural order, often found where they were last left, as blue glass bottles line the windowsills and plates are piled up near the kitchen sink. The collection is rather stagnant in regards to digital technologies, aside from a video loop of Gorey’s work on the PBS Mystery! television series. The EGH showcases collection objects with care, attending to preservation concerns and needs.

            The open floor plan of the house encourages visitors to move freely and design their individual museum experience. Every visitor will commence at the front door and gift shop area but can traverse throughout the house on their own accord. Patrons have the option “to sneak around and snoop into drawers, cabinets and under beds.”[5] The EGH utilizes the house infrastructure and some of the furniture as exhibition features. For example, a desk in the living room is transformed into a well-designed display case. One can open the drawer to reveal copies of illustrations of The Guinea-Pig's Revenge, a book that was never published. The back room invites visitors to sit in Gorey’s red velvet chair and read from a small selection of his library. The museum’s restroom is formerly Edward Gorey’s bathroom. Although not all areas are accessible to patrons, like the upstairs converted office space, these spaces are still presented in a way for visitors to engage with them despite the restricted access. The door to the stairwell is labeled with a “Staff Only” sign, but remains cracked open for visitors to see a cardboard illustration of a character falling down the stairs. (“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs,” from The Gashlycrumb Tinies).[6] The exterior of the house extends the visitor experience with weathered rocking chairs and artifacts on the wrap-around porch, an outdoor garden sculpture, as well as several gravestones of Gorey’s deceased pets under an enormous magnolia tree. Every person will obtain an individual experience of the museum based on the path they take, the objects they look at, the order of those objects, and the encounters they choose to include in their experience.

            The EGH understands the benefits of collaboration with community organizations, academic institutions, and supporters of the museum. After Edward Gorey’s death in 2000, the Highland Street Foundation, an organization “committed to addressing the needs and concerns of families throughout Massachusetts and California in areas of education, housing, mentoring and the arts,” purchased the house in 2002 and enabled the museum to be established.[7] The EGH is governed through the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and generously donates to a number of animal welfare organizations because of Gorey’s steadfast advocacy. The EGH also collaborates with various partners on annual exhibitions. Last year’s exhibition (2015), “From Aesop to Updike: Edward Gorey’s Book Cover Art & Design,” partnered with the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, Steven Heller, Sam Speigel, Pomegranate Press, San Diego State University, John Carollo and Dr. Joseph Stanton at the University of Hawaii.[8] Also, the Univeristy of Hawaii produced Looking for Edward Gorey, a 164-page catalogue companion to the Musings of Mystery and Alphabets of Agony: The Work of Edward Gorey visiting gallery exhibition.[9] This year’s exhibit reveals “Artifacts from the Archives,” displaying “a trove of never-seen and rarely-seen artwork produced Edward Gorey.[10] Another respected event is the annual “Envelope Contest,” during the month of October.[11] Illustrated envelopes in the theme of Halloween and Edward Gorey are submitted to the house by mail and will remain on display in binders at the house museum. The EGH actively promotes events through their website, local news sources, Facebook, and Twitter, engaging with their community and collaborators at large.

            The set vision of the Edward Gorey House drives the accessibility of information at the institution. The information systems in place, such as computers on site and the gift shop cash register, are presently outdated but still relatively functional. The newest addition to these systems has been a credit card reader for admission sales. The price of admission has not changed since the site first opened. The atmosphere of the EGH is preserved in how the space was originally inhabited. Therefore, the institutional priorities focus on day-to-day activities, upcoming exhibitions, and promotion of events and programs. The EGH is not concerned with upgrading museum technology, however it would be beneficial to establish an online catalogue of the museum’s collection and link it to the EGH website. A collection of Edward Gorey’s artworks is currently not searchable online at any institution. An application to an IMLS grant to establish an online searchable collection would foster the museum’s mission, enhance the accessibility of the EGH’s collection, and reach out to the ever-growing population of digital scholars. The mission and philosophy of the EGH at present should not change but rather evolve, as cultural heritage institutions must in order to adapt with the changing times.

            The Edward Gorey House is a prime example of a cultural heritage institution driven by its mission, which in turn has prompted the success of its identity as a house museum. With the backbone structure and design of the artist who lived there, the EGH operates as a museum while still retaining the sensory feelings of a lived in house. The EGH appropriately preserves the unique collections on the site and advantageously collaborates with partnering institutions to acquire additional exhibition material. The site could improve on their information systems regarding their website and lack of a collection catalogue, but currently it does not retract from the wholesome experience of this eclectic homestead. The EGH continues to offer its staff and public the accessibility to the life and works of Edward Gorey at this distinctive house museum.

Samantha May Driscoll. (2016, April 23). E is for Edward Gorey who wore an amazing raccoon coat. Yarmouth Port, MA. The Edward Gorey House.

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[1] Vagnone, F. D., Ryan, D. E., & Cothren, O. B. (2015). Anarchist's guide to historic house museums. pp 130.

[2] About the Gorey House. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/about-gorey-house

[3] Ibid.

[4] Cormier, R. (2002). Edward Gorey's House Opens to the Public. Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/travel/travel-advisory-edward-gorey-s-house-opens-to-the-public.html

[5] Vagnone, F. D., Ryan, D. E., & Cothren, O. B. (2015). Anarchist's guide to historic house museums. pp 123.

[6] Gashlycrumb Tinies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/gashlycrumb-tinies

[7] Highland Street Foundation - About. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2016, from http://www.highlandstreet.org/about.html

[8] From Aesop To Updike Edward Gorey's Book Cover Art. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/aesop-updike-edward-goreys-book-cover-art

[9] Gorey art is focus of Art Gallery catalogue. (2011). Retrieved April 30, 2016, from http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2011/10/22/gorey-catalogue/

[10] Our 2016 Exhibit. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2016, from http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/our-2016-exhibit

[11] Events. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2016, from http://www.edwardgoreyhouse.org/events