Benjamin Franklin House - Craven Street, London, UK
Posted by: Dragontree
N 51° 30.456 W 000° 07.506
30U E 699502 N 5710193
Benjamin Franklin House is now a museum in London and is the only surviving former home of Benjamin Franklin.
Waymark Code: WM9B3T
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/25/2010
Views: 19
Today the house contains a great museum allowing visitors to explore life as it would have been when Benjamin Franklin lived here. He lived here for almost sixteen years from 1757 to 1775. It is fascinating and exciting to know that this Founding Father of the United States was once living in this very house.
Wikipedia describes this important, historic home:
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'Benjamin Franklin House is a museum in a terraced house in Craven Street, London, close to Trafalgar Square. It is the only surviving former home of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The house dates from circa 1730 and Franklin lived and worked there for sixteen years. It opened to the public on 17 January 2006.
Conservation
36 Craven Street retains a number of original features (include original floorboards, original ceilings, and original fireplaces) with relatively few later alterations. Current conservation policies emphasise the need for minimal modern interventions.
Modern facilities
The "Historical Experience" includes an actor portraying historical characters associated with the house along with dialog, sound, lighting and special effects. The character used in the "Historical Experience" is Polly Hewson, daughter of Franklin's landlady who became a "second daughter" to Franklin.
The "Student Science Centre" allows students to re-create experiments from Franklin's sojourn in London. It includes a Medical History Room (focussed on the medical research work of William Hewson), a Discovery Room (containing historical artefacts) and a Demonstration Room (in which students can replicate Franklin's experiments).
The "Scholarship Centre" on the top floor of the House is a centre for study of the many subjects Franklin pursued.'
Visits can be via a Historical Experience Show or through a Guided Tour.