Coinciding with the hundredth anniversary of the death of Julián Gayarre, the Historic House Museum named after him was inaugurated on 2 January 1990 in Roncal, located in the same building the Roncal-born tenor had built in 1879 at the site of his birthplace.
This Historic House Museum was opened thanks to a donation by the tenor’s heirs who, along with the Town Council of Roncal and the Government of Navarre, founded the Julián Gayarre Foundation. This foundation was responsible for gathering a wide range of personal objects, souvenirs and trophies inside as well as organising the permanent exhibit to perpetuate the memory of the distinguished Roncal native. The foundation is mainly funded by the Government of Navarre and the Town Council of Roncal.
The restoration of the estate exhibited at the museum was paid for by the group ERCOA (Specialists in the Restoration and Conservation of Works of Art), which was commissioned by the Government of Navarre to restore a total of fifty personal objects belonging to the tenor including the costumes Gayarre wore in operas such as “Lucrezia Borgia”, “La Favorite”, “Il trovatore” and “Rigoletto” as well as wigs, shoes, accessories, crowns and metal adornments.
This museum also has an important archive with press articles and documentation on the figure of Gayarre and the world of operas, which is permanently being enriched through private donations.
The Historic House Museum is visited annually by several thousands of people. One of the most publicised visits was by tenor Alfredo Kraus on 6 December 1998.