I think the gentry/ancestor worship is, generally, the most interesting thing
about historic houses.  Not the ancestors (who are rarely more than
representative) but >>>the worship.

At the Abigail Adams Smith Museum the ancestor worship aspect is more
interesting than its construction as an estate barn, more interesting than its
use as a hotel, more interesting than its use as a country house.

First Jane Teller, a loner-Luddite, takes over this decrepit building in 1919
to reform the urban masses by getting them to spin and weave their own
clothes, and even turn a cash profit (by selling to Abercrombie & Fitch).  She
reproves modern society for losing its self-reliance and craft traditions.
She fills the building with antiques and calls it "Jane Teller's Mansion",
charging admission to what becomes an early period house.  The New York Times
article should have reproduced a photograph of her at her wheel in the house -
she breathes fire.

Then, in 1924, the Colonial Dames take it over, expand on the tenuous
connection to Abigail Adams Smith [daughter of John Adams, she and her husband
planned but did not complete the estate] as their HQ, at a time when
immigration seemed to be swamping American traditions.   They "improve" on the
house and its story in the manner typical of other such patriotic societies,
and leave an indelible mark on the building.

In the same way our current restorers, although they think their work
invisible, also profoundly change buildings.  The impulse to restore is
strong, just as strong as the will to demolish - and not that different.

Christopher Gray