Franklin Court, in the center of the block bounded by Market and Chestnut, Third and Fourth Streets, is the site of Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia house from 1763 to his death in 1790, and the Print Shop he built for his grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache. The National Park Service acquired the property during the 1950s as Orianna Street, a narrow mid-block alleyway lined with various nineteenth and twentieth century buildings which were subsequently demolished to allow for archeological investigations that continued over a twenty-year period. When the archeology was complete the Park Service contracted with Venturi and Rauch of Philadelphia to design exhibits for Franklin Court. The resulting plan featured the few archaeological remains of Franklin's house, rather than a reconstruction of it, and designed innovative space frames to represent the outlines of the house and print shop. Archeological remains of an ice pit, privy, and several well sites were also identified with round slate slabs in the Court pavement.