DEMHIST, ICOM's International Committee for Historic House Museums, is a forum for proposing and debating key criteria for the management and conservation of historic house museums, that is, dwellings in which the structure - i.e. the container - has been preserved as a whole together with furnishings, decorations and collections - i.e. the building's contents - assembled ad hoc in each particular house that later was transformed into a museum. The enormous variety characteristic of the artistic assets displayed in these homes calls for innovative strategies to deal with specific challenges in the areas of conservation and restoration, safety, education and communication.

The objective of the committee's debates and activities is to pinpoint specific solutions for problems that, while shared by all museums, are particularly pertinent to house museums. Conferences are held, and the proceedings are published.

Founded in 1998, DEMHIST had its first headquarters at the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum until 2002, the end of the first triennial of its board.

If you are a historic house professional, and you would like to join
ICOM-DEMHIST as a voting member, please contact
your national chapter of ICOM. If you are not acquainted
with it, already, you may locate it on the central
ICOM web site.

For DEMHIST matters other than membership, please contact the Secretary-Treasurer or the Chair of DEMHIST.