Bartow-Pell Mansion and Carriage House

About this property

The Bartow–Pell Mansion is a historic house museum at Shore Road in the northern section of Pelham Bay Park, within the New York City borough of the Bronx. The two-story building, designed in the mid-19th century by an unknown architect, has a Greek Revival facade and federal interiors and is the last surviving manor house in the Pelham Bay Park area. The grounds surrounding the mansion take up 9 acres (3.6 ha) and include a three-story carriage house; terraced gardens overlooking Long Island Sound to the east; and a small burial plot for the Pell family, which once occupied the land. The house sits on an estate that Thomas Pell purchased from the native Siwanoy in 1654; the Pell family built two previous residences on the grounds in both 1675 and 1790. Robert Bartow, a relative of the Pell family, built the third and current house at some point between 1836 and 1842. Ownership of the house remained in the Bartow and Pell families until 1888, when the government of New York City bought it, and the house remained empty until 1914 when the International Garden Club, co-founded by Zelia Hoffman and Alice Martineau, leased it. The IGC renovated the home into a clubhouse and moved in during 1915. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia used the mansion as his summer residence during 1936. The IGC opened part of the house to the public as a museum in May 1946 while continuing to use it as a clubhouse. The mansion's carriage house was restored between 1987 and 1993. The house is oriented on a north-south axis with wings on either side, and has a stone facade with balconies and large windows. The interior of the mansion's first floor is arranged around a square central hall with an elliptical staircase; it includes two parlors, a sitting room and a small dining room. The second floor contains bedrooms, while the cellar was used for storing wine. The carriage house, which contained a stable hand's home, vehicular storage, and the hayloft, has served as an exhibition and educational space since 1993. Some of the furnishings include the desk of Aaron Burr and a Lannuier bed. The mansion's facade, interior, and surrounding grounds are designated as a New York City designated landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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