The red farmhouse at Highland Farm where Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "South Pacific," "The King and I," and "The Sound of Music" will get a new roof, museum-grade climate control and restored porch and balcony starting in September 2026, museum board secretary Christine Junker told PhillyVoice.
The work follows a $1 million state grant announced Friday by state Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10) and state Rep. Tim Brennan (D-29). The money comes through Pennsylvania's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program and will also fund a new ADA-compliant visitor and education center on the site of the barn that collapsed during a storm in May 2026.
It's the museum's third RACP grant. The nonprofit previously received $500,000 from the program in 2020 and again in 2024, according to PhillyVoice reporting.
The $1 million is a matching grant, meaning the Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center must raise an equal amount privately before it can draw down the state funds. Junker said the museum has received a $1 million quote for the parking lot alone, which must be built first to support ongoing tours of the home. The current status of the museum's private fundraising was not disclosed.
Highland Farm sits on East Street where it crosses the Route 202 Bypass. Hammerstein lived there for the last 20 years of his life, forging his partnership with composer Richard Rodgers and mentoring a young Stephen Sondheim on the property.
"We're lucky to have such deep ties to the history of theater here in Bucks County," Santarsiero said when announcing the grant. "This project will help turn one of our historical landmarks, the home of legendary Broadway composer Oscar Hammerstein, into a true museum and community center to celebrate his legacy."
Hammerstein was a lyricist and librettist; Rodgers was the composer of the duo's musicals.
The new visitor center will include exhibition galleries and classrooms. Site preparation will require stormwater management, new parking, landscaping and security infrastructure, according to the legislators' announcement. No building permits or township land-development approvals for the new center have been filed publicly; Junker described those plans as still in development.
While construction proceeds, the museum is expanding programming. Guided tours, school presentations, lectures and the annual Hammerstein International Youth Solo Contest will continue, and the center is developing a new Bucks County Young Playwrights Festival.
Board president Greg Roth called the grant "transformative" in a statement released with the legislators' announcement, saying visitors "will have the opportunity to walk in his footsteps" once the property is fully restored.
The museum's annual "Something Wonderful" Gala is scheduled for Sunday, October 4, honoring Tony Award-winning songwriters Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Proceeds support operations, educational programs, and continued restoration. More information is available at hammersteinmuseum.org.
