To understand the beginnings of the Soane Museum we must turn back to a late Georgian country gentleman’s retreat in Ealing, Middlesex, called Pitzhanger. The villa was conceived as both a private classroom to educate Soane’s adolescent sons in what he hoped would be the start of an architectural dynasty and as a showplace to advertise the work of John Soane, architect to the Bank of England.
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The Sir John Soane Museum in England is precedent for two reasons: because of its program as an architectural museum and because of its public accessibility. It took a period of 40 years for Sir John Soane to acquire the three two houses along Lincoln’s Inn Fields and the items within, that today make up the museum. In 1793, Soane purchased number 12 as a home for his family in the city. In the summer of 1808, Soane”planned an addition east of his office to extend the rear property of the adjacent house, No. 13.” (Millenson, Susan Feinberg Sir John Soane’s Museum: 28). The plans were to include an office for Soane’s architectural practice, for which he had gained fame for designing the prestigious Bank of England. When his sons decided not to pursue careers in architecture, he sold Pitzhanger (the house he had initially developed as the educational center) and moved his family into number 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which he purchased in 1811. Number 14 followed ten years later. It was purchased in 1823.
The staged completion of the museum was critical to its success. Similar to the success ancient towns acquire from years of use and re-building, the Soane museum was constantly re-evaluated and re-designed to best suit the needs of the residence, the office and finally the museum. The expression of the three houses can still be felt in the layout of the museum, creating a dynamic and interesting promenade for the visitor. The magic of almost getting lost within the complex further adds to the intrigue of the spaces. Soane’s major collection of antiques, art and many other items fascinates because of the manner in which it is displayed. These items gain new meaning by the arrangements and spaces Soane created to display them in. One learns from this museum unconsciously.
Unlike the CCA where the user might be intimidated by the building, the Soane museum is inviting and naturally draws visitors in. The location within an existing residential building creates an informal setting to wander around, contrary to the stark, formal environment of many similar museums.
Sir John Soane was above all an architect and his museum gave him the opportunity to investigate various architectural ideas such as: interior vs. exterior, playing with light, forced perspectives and others. The fusion of the three buildings gave him room to express these ideas in varying ways.
The Collection
Soane’s diverse holdings, ranging from architectural fragments to natural curios, represent his devotion to creating an architectural museum – a museum that would educate, inspire and uplift the architect to the ideal of the universal man.
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The collection of the museum comprises architectural fragments, paintings, drawings, models, plaster casts, Egyptian and Graeco-Egyptian items, bronzes, ceramics, pots, manuscripts, fossils, minerals and a library containing containing 7,783 volumes.
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