Renovations will close one of Iowa State’s most familiar landmarks through the summer and fall.

Farm House Museum closed yesterday and will remain off limits to the public through the end of November while the house receives new stucco, a new roof, a restored west porch and replacement mortar to stabilize the crumbling bricks.

“For a good share of the summer, it will be a hard hats-only thing,” said Marilyn Vaughn, public relations coordinator for University Museums.

The $331,000 project is being funded entirely by private donations, Vaughn said.

According to a press release, $265,000 has been raised to date. The exterior work is being done to prevent damage to the interior of the museum, Vaughn said.

“There has not been any damage done at this point, but it was just a matter of time,” Vaughn said.

“The whole intent is to keep the interior in good shape by not allowing water and moisture to get in there,” she said.

Vaughn said Farm House Museum’s interior was repaired in the 1970s, but that the outside is in obvious disrepair.

“If people go by, they can see that work needs to be done,” she said.

No bids have been granted yet for the restoration job, but Vaughn said the university and the museums program were reviewing incoming bids.

Construction is expected to begin in early July, according to a press release.

Staff will spend June preparing the museum for repairs by taking down items hanging on the walls and covering antiques.

Vaughn said they are mostly concerned with damage caused by vibration knocking antiques off the wall. No items will be moved out of the museum, she said.

Although the museum will be open in time for its annual Victorian Holidays celebration in December, Vaughn said the Farm House will be missed by those who would have used it in the fall.

“We have students who just like to come and hang out,” she said.

Vaughn said students liked to sit and read on the screened-in porch.

Hundreds of tours visit the museum each year, Vaughn said, including schoolchildren and bus tours.

“I think the Farm House will be sadly missed by scores of schoolchildren who tour it each fall,” she said.