When No 36 Craven Street — a narrow, stately four-storey townhouse — was built in the West End of London in 1728, it was home to William Nind, a prosperous ironmonger. This was just one more addition to a city that was changing fast from medieval to "modern". Baron William Gaven had knocked down a "mean" alley of old houses to make way for these fine dwellings.
The house's claim to fame came decades later, when another inhabitant, Margaret Stevenson, found, despite the presence also in the house of her daughter Polly and her husband William Hewson, who ran an anatomy school there, that money was tight. So she took in a boarder from the colonies.
His name was Benjamin Franklin, and his presence brought many of the scientific and political stars of the Enlightenment to its grand front parlour - Pitt the Elder, David Hume, Joseph Priestley and Sir John Pringle.
It also brought the growing conflict between the American Colonies and the Home Country to the very door, with an angry mob gathering outside after Franklin had made public the letters of the Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts.
After Franklin was forced to flee London, No 36 Craven Street sank back into obscurity; used for a century until the end of World War II as a hotel, as was much of the street; guests were attracted by the close proximity of Charing Cross Station. But by the 1970s the house was derelict and in danger of demolition.
It was then that a few enthusiasts stepped in and formed the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House. Their efforts have finally born fruit, with the house having just opened for visitors as a museum.
Yet it is unlike any museum you've ever visited before. Rather than go the traditional route of installing period furniture "like that Franklin would have used", they've maintained the original, evocative framework of the house - the magnificent broad floorboards, the original wood panelling on the walls and the fireplaces - and added an experience that is part multi-media, part theatre.
Article comments
1 - diana hartman
this is great! the USO here has been looking for another reason to go to london and here it is!
either way, i'm going to ryanair my way with the kids to see it before our time in europe is over :(
2 - Olga Baird
Somehow the factual information is much confused in the article. For example,in the second paragraph: Franklin actually came to London in 1757, but at that time there was no presence in the house of married Polly and her husband, because Polly got married only in 1770. Franklin came not by himself, but along with his son William. So actually the real picture of the domestic life at Craven Street is quite different...