Merchant's House Museum
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| Merchants House Museum | |
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| (National Register of Historic Places) | |
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| Location: | 29 East Fourth Street |
| Nearest city: | New York City |
| Built/Founded: | 1832 |
| Governing body: | National Register of Historic Places |
The red-brick row house was built in 1832 by Joseph Brewster on East 4th Street near Washington Square. In 1835 it became the home of Seabury Tredwell, a wealthy New York merchant, and his family. Tredwell's daughter Gertrude was born in 1840 lived in the house until her death in an upstairs bedroom in 1933. Three years later, the perfectly preserved house opened to the public as a museum. It is located at 29 East 4th Street, between Lafayette Street and The Bowery. The Merchant's House Museum is the only 19th Century family home in New York City preserved intact - both inside and the outside.
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[edit] Exterior and interior
The building's facade is reminiscent of earlier Federal-style homes, but the interior, especially the formal parlors, is New York's finest example of Greek revival architecture. The interior also contains the Tredwell family's original furnishings, including pieces from New York's finest cabinetmakers, such as Duncan Phyfe and Joseph Meeks.
[edit] The building
Considered one of the finest surviving Greek Revival rowhouses in America, the MHM is a miraculous survivor of “Olde New-York.” Located in the once ultra-elegant “Bond Street Area”, the House was built in 1832 and purchased by successful merchant Seabury Tredwell as a home for his growing family for the princely sum of $18,000 in 1835. Gertrude, the youngest Tredwell child, was born in this house in 1840. The family remained here almost 100 years, until Gertrude died in 1933.
The House is important for its outstanding collection of original furnishings, decorative objects, magnifenctly preserved 19th Century clothing and other personal effects of the Tredwell family. Some of the original furniture is from New York's finest cabinetmakers, such as Duncan Phyfe and Joseph Meeks. Stepping through the front portal is stepping into a time when New York City was becoming the most important seaport in North America and the House reflects these fortunate circumstances.
[edit] The family
Gertrude and her seven siblings - - two brothers and five sisters - - all lived here together with their parents, four servants, and an ever-changing assortment of nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and other relatives. Only two daughters and one son ever married - - unusual for that era and for an affluent family with social position.
Seabury died in 1865 and the remaining family lived at the home into old age. Gertrude, the youngest member of the immediate family, was finally lived here alone for 24 years after her sister Julia died in 1909. As she grew older and more eccentric she became obsessed with holding on to the elegant home in a neighborhood that had become, by the early 20th Century, a run-down, semi-industrial, and totally disreputable part of town. Burdened with severe financial hardship in her last years, she somehow managed to keep this beautiful home in nearly original condition, long after all the neighboring private homes had been demolished or converted into rooming houses, tenements, or commercial structures.
After her death, a distant cousin, George Chapman, purchased the building literally lock, stock and barrel, saving it from foreclosure and demolition. In 1936, after needed repair and renovation, the house opened as a museum and has remained such ever since. The Merchant’s House Museum remains a unique time capsule of the lives of a typical affluent New York merchant family of the 19th Century - - complete with the original possessions of the family who lived here for so long. If the House truly is haunted, perhaps it’s only natural, as so much of the Tredwells’ dreams, aspirations and belongings remain within its walls.
[edit] The museum
In addition to its magnificent period rooms, the Museum presents many performances, presentations, lectures, exhibits and special events throughout the year. Ongoing research and state-of-the-art documentation and conservation techniques assure that more is constantly being learned about the House, its furnishings and outstanding textile collections, and “what life was really like” for a 19th Century New York family.
[edit] Landmark designations
Due to its architectural and historic importance, the Merchants House has been recognized by the following landmark designations:
- 1936 - Documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey
- 1965 - Designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as one of the first 20 New York City landmarks
- 1965 - Designated as a National Historic Landmark and part of the National Historic Trust in New York
- 1981 - Designated as a New York City interior landmark
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Merchants House Museum Official website
- Exterior photograph nyu.edu
