Single Sisters’ House Museum
Spotlighting women’s history through historic renovation
Location: Bethlehem, PA
Client: Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
Date Completed: 2016
Artefact was selected to design a renovation of Bethlehem’s second-oldest building, the Single Sisters’ House, in the Moravian Historic District. Originally built in 1744 for the Single Brethren’s Choir, the house was given to the Single Sisters’ Choir in 1748, with expansions for living quarters as well as a kitchen, dining room, Saal (chapel), and work areas added throughout the mid-eighteenth century. Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites hired our team to transform the Saal into a museum to commemorate early Moravian women in Bethlehem, a task that required the renovation of an apartment in the adjoining Bell House to provide a second means of egress. The project adhered to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s standards for historic preservation and followed guidelines for greening historic structures.