The Texas Historical Commission, Friends of Sam Rayburn and the Sam Rayburn House Museum will have three good reasons to celebrate on March 17. The date marks three benchmarks; completion of a major restoration to the home, reopening to the public and unveiling a new exhibit.

Please join us on Saturday, March 17, 2012 beginning at 11:00 a.m. for a ceremony marking the culmination of a restoration to the home and improvements to the tractor shed and visitor center. The event also signifies the reopening of the home for tours following closure for the restoration in March 2011.  

On the speaker’s list for the reopening presentation is Senator Bob Duell. Senator Duell represents Senate District 2, which encompasses Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall, and Van Zandt counties as well as parts of Dallas and Smith counties. Senator Duell will serve as the keynote speaker during the event. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission, Allen Sanderson, President of the Friends of Sam Rayburn and Bonham Mayor Roy Floyd will also speak during the event. Sam Rayburn House Museum Site Manager Carole Stanton will serve as master of ceremonies for the celebratory reopening.

Also included in the day’s events is the opening of the museum’s newest exhibit, “Bringing Order to the House: The Restoration of the Sam Rayburn House Museum.” The exhibit showcases the many aspects of the restoration process through project photos, historic photos and artifacts.

Years of deterioration and the necessity of caring for important historical structures were the cause for major preservation efforts. Planning the restoration began in 2008 and in March 2011 the restoration of Sam Rayburn’s home began. The museum closed to allow the staff to move and protect the collections in the house in preparation for the interior and exterior work. The restoration project included repairing and replacing wood siding and framing, stabilizing foundations, leveling the first floor, rebuilding a chimney, installing a new roof and reinstalling a repaired television antennae to the roof. In addition, the tractor shed, used by Rayburn to house farm equipment and vehicles, was leveled and its foundation was strengthened.

While maintenance was a priority for this work, historic authenticity was integral as well. The restoration project included changes to the home’s front façade and back porch to present them as they were during Sam Rayburn’s lifetime. What once was a screened porch used by the Rayburn’s as a sometime sitting room and dining space had become an enclosed museum staff office after the museum was opened. The porch was returned to its 1960s-era appearance with removal of glass windows and siding and replacement of the wood floor and screens. The room is now open to visitors during house tours.

During the renovation project, the front porch was redone to appear as it did in 1961 at the time of Sam Rayburn’s death. The construction team covered the concrete porch with wood and installed a brick staircase. They removed the concrete sidewalks and installed a paving stone walkway from the front fence to the porch.

In addition to work on the home, the contractor for the project, Phoenix I Restoration and Construction LTD., made updates and repairs to the visitor center by renovating the restrooms, building a porch over the restroom entry doors and creating an easily accessible curb and concrete pad around the structure. New doors, exhibit gallery lighting and fresh paint completed the project.