Read the Blog
The interior of the Rapp Houses were restored between 2013 and 2014. The houses finally reopened for tours in November 2014. Read more about the restoration in the blog posts that were written during the restoration.
Open for Tours!
How exciting! The Rapp Houses are finally open for tours once again. Reviews are glowing! Time to come out to Old Economy Village again and see the magnificent changes. Just to give you a glimpse of what you might see, look at the pictures below. But, we don't want to give too much away, because [...]
The Rapp Houses are Making Headlines
The Rapp Houses are receiving a great deal of attention these days. The contractors are all done with their work, and the staff and volunteers at the site are putting the finishing touches on the two connected buildings. The grand opening is this Saturday and Sunday, November 8 & 9 from 10 until 5 on [...]
Furnishings!
This past week saw all of the large furnishings moving into the Rapp Houses. Brian Howard of Carlisle, PA and his crew did the hard moving job. Also this week, White Marsh Interiors installed curtains and bed hangings in George and Frederick Rapp's bedrooms. Thanks to Bert Laudenslager and David Sell for their beautiful work! [...]
The Carpet is Beautiful!
This week four of six rooms and two staircases received carpeting. The room carpets are facsimiles of original ingrain carpet from the Old Economy Village collection produced by the Langhorne Carpet Company of Penndel, Pennsylvania. The stair carpets were woven by Family Heirloom Weavers of Red Lion, Pennsylvania. Two more carpets are still at the [...]
Artifacts are moving in
The staff at Old Economy Village has recently begun to move the historical artifacts back into the Rapp Houses. Packing and removal of artifacts began in the summer of 2012. The house was closed in December 2012 when the large artifacts were removed. The curator has started with the small items, and the large [...]
The wallpaper is done!
We can hardly believe it ourselves, but yes, the wallpaper is done! The wallpaper reproduction project began in 2002, and now, 12 years later, we are proud to show off the results. And I might add that what you are going to see is BEAUTIFUL, especially to those with an early 19th century eye (wink, [...]
More to come
Here at Old Economy Village the restoration of the Rapp Houses has come to a slight pause, but in other parts of the country, people are working very diligently on preparing furnishings for the houses. Adelphi Paper Hangings in Sharon Springs, New York is busily block printing the remainder of the wallpaper for the George [...]
Wallpaper!!!
Yes, the wallpaper is finally being hung in the Rapp Houses! Everyone is so excited to see it, because we've waited and worked on this for YEARS! We are still in the production phase for three wallpapers, so more will come probably in September. But for now, take a peak at the new look of [...]
Update
It has been eight long weeks since the last post (sorry about that - I've been extremely busy putting together two exhibits: Two Centuries of Music at Economy and A Style of Their Own: Clothing and Textiles of the Harmony Society - two must-sees!) An update about the Rapp Houses restoration is LONG overdue. The [...]