Abstract: A method for manipulating objects in isolation, in accordance with the invention, includes providing a shared object, B, from an object provider for use on a distributed object system. A new class of objects are provided which include a facade object, Bf, for B and a versionable representation object, Bv, for B wherein Bf supports a same interface as B. B is permitted to be manipulated in a given context isolated from other contexts for the object B wherein the object provider and an object user are unaware of the production and manipulation of the new class of objects. Method invocations on Bf in the given context are delegated to Bv to associate an instance of Bv with the given context such that one or more versions of object B are persistently maintained in the distributed object system.