New curtains, carpets and drapes at Raynham Hall Museum

Raynham Hall Museum has undergone an interior design upgrade in recent weeks. The two ground-floor rooms at the front of the museum’s 18th-century section have had new carpets, drapes and curtains installed, made from a wide range of materials that museum officials say will better reflect the wealth and commercial connections of the Townsend family in the Revolutionary War era.

The Townsends, whose ancestral Oyster Bay home serves as the modern museum, were merchants whose ships traveled across the Atlantic, purchasing goods ranging from sugar to gunpowder to dried fish. Samuel Townsend, the family patriarch and the father of Revolutionary War spy Robert Townsend, had trading contacts as far afield as Jamaica and France.

Some of the many commodities the family traded in included the raw materials for clothing and linens — wool, cotton and finer materials such as velvet and silk. Jessica Pearl, the museum’s collections manager, explained that it made sense for the Townsends to decorate their home with the materials as well.

“The Townsends were a wealthy merchant family, and they sold a variety of goods, including all different types of fabrics,” Pearl said. “All of these things that they sold, we think that, because they were importing them to Oyster Bay, they probably also had a wealth of material in the house.”

Thanks to a grant from former State Sen. Carl L. Marcellino through the State Education Department, the museum was able to purchase the materials to recreate the interior of the Townsend household. Museum Director Harriet Clark said she was “extremely grateful to Senator Marcellino for his help.”

Before the redesign began, the museum reached out to Rabbit Goody, a nationally recognized textile historian and the owner of Thistle Hill Weavers, which provides reproductions of historical textiles to museums, the film industry and designers, among others. Working with Goody, the museum was able to approximate the style and designs of the Townsends’ fabrics, based on what was popular in the region at the time.

All of the rooms in the 18th-century wing of the museum will receive new curtains and drapes, but only the dining room and living room will have new carpets. Pearl explained that this was because carpets were expensive during that period, and would only be displayed in areas where guests would be most likely to see them.

The installation of the new carpets is expected to be finished by Sunday. Rick Carlton, a specialist in installing historical carpets, explained that in order for the pieces to have an authentic feel, it was important that they be installed with close attention to detail and historical accuracy.

“This is essentially a piece of cloth, so it doesn’t have any kind of structure or integrity,” Carlton said, “so you need to make sure that your tension is exactly even and exactly right all throughout the room.”

Tours have continued at the museum while the work has been done. Christopher Judge, the director of visitor services, and Justinne Lake-Jedzinak, the director of education and public programs, both spoke about how the changes will impact tours in the building.

They emphasized that the expanded range of fabrics will give visitors a greater appreciation for the Townsends’ wealth as well as Revolutionary War-era fashion.

“I think it will impress upon guests the idea of the wealth of the Townsend family,” Judge said. “It makes it feel more like a living museum.”

“It’s been really exciting to have guests here while Rick is actively sewing the carpets into place, because then they see the process,” Lake-Jedzinak said. “I like (Raynham Hall) being an active space that changes and develops as we learn more about the family and the history, and it shows that we’re always evolving.”