May 22, 2026
Provided Image/Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center
A barn on a Bucks County farm once owned by musical theater icon Oscar Hammerstein II collapsed Wednesday night during a storm.
A barn on a Bucks County property once owned by musical theater icon Oscar Hammerstein II collapsed following a thunderstorm this week.
The Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center said the structure fell apart Wednesday evening and a team will be removing the remains next week. The building was located on the property of Highland Farm in Doylestown, where Hammerstein lived from 1940 to 1960.
The barn hadn't been in use in years, according to board secretary for the museum Christine Junker. The museum kept it fenced off to visitors, and the previous owner used it for storage before the museum purchased the property in December 2023.
Junker said officials had planned to demolish the structure before rebuilding it as an exhibition space and theater education center, which she said will continue Hammerstein's legacy of mentorship. Those plans remain in place, but the museum still needs to raise the funds so she expects it will take a minimum of five years to complete.
"It was a very sad moment for all of us because there's a lot of history in the barn," Junker said. "Oscar Hammerstein used the property as a working farm, he had milking cows there and there are photographs of the family with the barn, so we know it was meaningful to them and it inspired a lot of his works. It's a very poignant moment for us, but we are looking forward to the day when we can re-create the barn."
A photograph of the barn taken while Oscar Hammerstein II lived there.
Oscar Hammerstein II with the cows at his farm in Doylestown, Bucks County.
Before renovations on the barn can begin, the museum plans to upgrade the house on the property, including building a new roof and installing a new HVAC system. Crews will also rebuild the porch and balcony and add an accessibility ramp. Junker said officials are in the midst of hiring a contractor, and those renovations will likely take place in the fall. The museum will be closed during that period.
Hammerstein was a lyricist, producer and director of musicals, winning eight Tony awards and two Academy Awards for best original song before his death in 1960. He famously collaborated with Richard Rodgers as the theatrical duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, creating famous shows including "South Pacific," "Oklahoma!" and the "Sound of Music."
He lived at the farm with his family for two decades, and wrote many of his most popular works at the property such as "Carousel," "The King and I" and "Flower Drum Song," as well as "South Pacific" and "Oklahoma!" Museum officials said that it inspired his love for rural Pennsylvania and the Americana references throughout his works.
