Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, is proud to announce that a new room will be open to the public when the mansion reopens for guided tours on March 1, 2011. The Preschool Room, located on the mansion's third floor, will be the first room added to the tour in nine years. Used as a preschool for the family and neighborhood children in the 1910s and a guest room in the 1930s, this addition will reveal the way a room's use changes throughout history and provide new levels of enrichment to the tour.
The decision to renovate and open this room to the public was made when the "Bachelor" furniture set was donated to Brucemore in 2009. Irene Douglas, the matriarch of the Douglas family, originally purchased the furniture in 1934 to furnish a guest room for the groom of her youngest daughter Barbara for their wedding. Beyond describing the education provided in the preschool room, the furniture's history will allow the tour to discuss one of the largest social events in Cedar Rapids' history: Barbara Douglas' wedding to Gail Burck in 1934. Over 600 guests attended the reception on Brucemore's First Avenue lawn and other community members joined the celebration for free ice cream distributed at the estate's gates.
"Opening a new room is an exciting opportunity to add depth to our interpretive tour and display objects that have been in collection's storage," said April Kamp-Whittaker, Director of Learning and Museum Projects. "Hopefully it will encourage people to visit either for the first time or to return and see the changes which have been made to the house and tour over the years."
Interpretive guided mansion tours are offered March through December, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, Noon to 3:00 p.m. Tours are on the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. Admission is $7.00 per adult, $3.00 per student, and free to Brucemore and National Trust members. Reservations required for groups of 10 or more. Handicap accessible, please call for details. For more information, call 319-362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org.
Brucemore, an 1880s Queen Anne style mansion on a 26-acre park-like estate, is located at 2160 Linden Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403.
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