Merchant's House Museum facts for kids
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Old Merchant's House
(Seabury Tredwell House) |
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| Location | 29 East Fourth Street, Manhattan, New York City |
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| Built | 1832 |
| Architectural style | Federal-style (exterior) Greek revival (interior) |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000548 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | June 23, 1965 |
The Merchant's House Museum is a special historic house in New York City. It's also known as the Old Merchant's House or the Seabury Tredwell House. You can find it at 29 East Fourth Street in the NoHo area of Manhattan.
This four-story building was built between 1831 and 1832 by Joseph Brewster, a hatmaker. Its outside looks like the Federal style, while the inside is designed in the Greek Revival style. The Tredwell family lived here for almost 100 years. In 1936, it opened as a museum. It's the only 19th-century family home in New York City that still has its original look, both inside and out.
Joseph Brewster built the house to sell it. In 1835, he sold it to Seabury Tredwell, a merchant. Seabury lived there with his wife, eight children, four servants, and some relatives. Five of their children never married and stayed in the house for most of their lives. The house remained in the family until the youngest child, Gertrude, passed away in 1933. A distant relative, George Chapman, bought the house and turned it into a museum.
For many years, the museum struggled to find money to fix up the old house. From 1970 to 1980, an architect named Joseph Roberto completely restored it. More repairs were needed in the early 1990s after nearby buildings were torn down and damaged the house. In recent years, museum leaders have been trying to stop a hotel from being built next door. They worry it could harm the house's structure.
The house has a raised basement, a fancy front door with steps, and a slate roof. There's also a garden in the back. Inside, you'll find a family room and kitchen in the basement. The first floor has two formal living rooms, called parlors. Bedrooms are on the upper floors. The museum has over 4,500 items that belonged to the Tredwell family. These include furniture, clothes, and everyday items. The museum also hosts events, tours, and educational programs. Many people have praised the museum's exhibits and the house's beautiful design. The house's outside and inside are protected as New York City designated landmarks. It is also a National Historic Landmark.
Contents
Where is the Merchant's House Museum Located?
The Merchant's House Museum is at 29 East Fourth Street. It's in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The house is on the north side of Fourth Street. It sits between Lafayette Street to the west and Bowery to the east. The land it's on is about 3,072 square feet. The museum was one of six similar houses built on the same block.
Right next to the museum on the east side is a public park called Manuel Plaza. A few doors down, at 37 East Fourth Street, is the Samuel Tredwell Skidmore House. This house was built for a cousin of Seabury Tredwell. The Skidmore House was also home to a large family. It became a New York City landmark in 1970 and was restored by 2010. Other important buildings nearby include the De Vinne Press Building and the Astor Library.
The land where the house stands was once part of a large estate. This estate belonged to a wealthy businessman named John Jacob Astor. In the 1830s, rich New Yorkers started moving north from the Financial District. They moved to areas like Lafayette Street in NoHo. At that time, the area around Lafayette Street was mostly empty. Many homes were built there before wealthy families started moving even further north in the 1840s and 1850s.
The History of the Merchant's House
Seabury Tredwell was born in 1780. His family was well-known on Long Island. He started a business in Lower Manhattan around 1803. Later, it became Tredwell, Kissam & Company. In 1820, Seabury married Eliza Parker. They had seven children over the next fifteen years. Seabury retired in 1835. He was a successful businessman but not famous outside his community.
The Tredwell Family Home: 19th Century
Joseph Brewster, the hatmaker, bought the land in 1831. He built the house at 29 East Fourth Street. The house was finished in April 1832. Brewster lived there for three years. In 1835, he sold it to Seabury Tredwell for $18,000. The Tredwell family owned the house for 98 years.
The Tredwells went to St. Bartholomew's Church nearby. Sometimes, they drove carriages in Central Park. They spent summers in New Jersey. But for the rest of the year, they lived on Fourth Street. They liked to keep their lives private. Gertrude, Seabury's youngest daughter, was born in the house in 1840. Gertrude, her two brothers, and five sisters all lived there with their parents.
The family usually had four servants, mostly Irish women. They didn't stay for more than ten years. Sometimes, relatives stayed at the house if they needed a place to live. In the 1850s, Sarah, one of the daughters, was hurt in a stagecoach accident. A special hand-pulled elevator was put in the house for her. This helped her get to her bedroom. The house was also one of the first in New York City to get gas for lighting. Seabury Tredwell passed away in 1865. He left each of his children $10,000. The family updated their house two years later.
Only three of the Tredwell children got married and moved out. Four daughters and one son never married. Eliza Tredwell died in 1882. Her unmarried brother passed away in 1884. By then, many of their rich neighbors had moved away. It's not clear why the Tredwells stayed. Some say they were too poor to move to a fancier part of town. The unmarried sisters (Julia, Phebe, Sarah, and Gertrude) continued to live in the house. They slowly updated some furniture. But they mostly wanted to keep things "as Papa wanted it." Without much income, they lived off their father's money. They sold land in Brooklyn and New Jersey as they needed more money. Sarah eventually moved to a hotel and died in 1906. Only Phebe, Julia, and Gertrude were left in the house.
The Tredwell Family Home: Early 20th Century
By 1909, two more sisters had passed away. Only Gertrude was left. She became a recluse, meaning she stayed away from people. This happened after her father told her she couldn't marry a Roman Catholic doctor. Gertrude hired a maid to greet the few visitors she had. Once, the gas company mistakenly cut off her gas. A director from the company came to apologize. But Gertrude wouldn't even speak with him.
In the 1910s and 1920s, Gertrude spent more time in her second-floor bedroom. Her health was getting worse. One of her nephews moved onto the third floor. They mostly stayed in the house. They only left for a few weeks each year to visit Lake Champlain. In her last years, Gertrude faced serious money problems. She had to sell her belongings and take out a loan on her home. Still, Gertrude kept the house in its original condition. This was unusual because all the private homes nearby had been torn down or changed.
Around 1930, the house got electricity, running water, and a furnace. After her nephew died in 1930, Gertrude rarely had visitors. She passed away alone in 1933 in one of the second-floor bedrooms. Even though Gertrude was poor when she died, the house still had many of the family's things. Some people say Gertrude's ghost haunts the house. This story continued for many years.
The House Becomes a Museum
After Gertrude died, her niece, Eliza Nichols, wanted to sell the house and its contents. This would help pay off the house's loan. George Chapman bought the building. This saved it from being taken by the bank or torn down. Chapman bought it "the night before the house and its furnishings were to go on public auction." He created the Historic Landmark Society. This group bought the house and turned it into a museum. They named it the Old Merchants' House. This name honored New York City's early merchants, like Seabury Tredwell. Chapman's wife helped clear out items to display in the house. The Tredwells' items, clothes, and furniture were shown as they originally were.
Museum Operations: 1930s to 1960s
The museum had a special opening on May 8, 1936. It officially opened to the public on May 11. At first, it was open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The New York State Education Department put up a plaque that month. It said the house was Seabury Tredwell's home. Many photos of the house were taken in 1936 for a project called the Historic American Buildings Survey. Pictures of the inside were shown at Columbia University.
In 1943, the Historic Landmark Society tried to raise $100,000. But after two years, they only had $7,000. At the time, it cost $3,500 a year to run the museum. The 50-cent entry fee and 2,500 visitors a year weren't enough. Chapman warned that the house might have to be sold. But he managed to pay off the loan and kept the museum open. The museum's caretakers, Harry Lundberg and Florence Helm, lived in the basement. Florence lived there until she died in 1954.
By 1950, about 1,000 people visited the museum each year. In 1951, the museum's board talked about their money fund. It had grown to $25,000 but was still not enough. A group called the Hale Foundation offered to donate $45,000 if the museum could raise the same amount. But this didn't happen. In 1955, the gas company installed a gas heating system in the museum.
By the early 1960s, the house was in very bad shape. It needed $200,000 in repairs. An architecture critic said the house was so weak that a big storm could destroy the ceilings. The original furniture was "ready to crumble." The museum still didn't have enough visitors to pay for its upkeep. Museum officials tried to get money from private donors but failed. The curator, Randolph Jack, was paying for the museum's care himself.
In 1965, Jack said the house and its items might be sold. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) called the house "very important" because it was so real. But at that time, the LPC couldn't legally protect the house. After this news, people who wanted to save old buildings asked officials to protect the house. One hundred children even protested its possible demolition. Architects suggested other ways to use the house to save it. Hundreds of people spoke up to defend the house at a city hearing. In October, the LPC named the house one of the first official city landmarks.
Major Renovation in the 1970s
In the late 1960s, the museum tried to raise money for repairs. They held events like tours. The Decorators Club wanted to help restore the house. The museum closed for some repairs in August 1968. The club hired Joseph Roberto, an architect, to help with water problems. The club had raised $5,000, which was used to fix the roof's edge. Roberto wrote many letters asking officials for money. But the project didn't get much attention until 1970. That's when a newspaper critic wrote about the house.
The New York City government and the New York State Historic Trust gave money for the renovation in 1970. The Historic Trust gave the museum $30,000 in 1971. Many private and public donors matched this money. They gave another $12,000 in 1972. In 1975, the trust gave another $35,000. The house also received money from the federal government.
Joseph Roberto designed the house's renovation. He donated about $500,000 worth of his services. His wife, Carol, an interior designer, also helped. The Robertos and six others became museum trustees. Work on the house's structure and outside started in 1972. It was done in three steps. They rebuilt the foundation and replaced over 2,500 bricks. They also replaced the slate roof and reattached the front of the house to the inner wall. The ceilings in the living rooms were starting to crack from traffic vibrations. Workers tied them together with wire.
Work on the inside began in 1974. About $100,000 was set aside to restore the inside. They also added plumbing, heating, and electrical wiring. The furniture was fixed. One carpet had to be completely replaced because it was so worn out. Workers looked at many layers of paint. Then they painted the walls back to their original off-white color. Other items, like light fixtures, were also restored. A specialist was hired to fix the iron railings.
At the time, the city landmark protection only covered the outside of the house. So, some worried the inside might be changed a lot during the renovation. New York City was going through a tough financial time in 1975. One newspaper called the renovation "a bright spot" during these sad times. The first floor reopened in November 1979. The museum got another $70,000 to fix up the second floor. In 1980, museum officials held a Christmas party. This marked the completion of the second-floor renovation. The project cost $280,000, paid for by many donors. At the time, they planned to spend another $100,000 to restore the kitchen and bedrooms. Joseph Roberto received an award for his work on the house's restoration. The Robertos continued to work in an office at the front of the house.
Museum Operations: 1980s and 1990s
After the museum reopened, the basement, first, and second floors were open to the public on Sunday afternoons. Groups could also book visits during weekdays. People could also visit the garden in the back. In 1987, The New York Times wrote that "The house is very much alive these days."
In late 1987, the owner of three small buildings next to the house announced plans to tear them down. One of these buildings shared a wall with the Merchant's House. When these buildings were torn down in 1988, the house was damaged. It cost $1 million to repair. A crack formed along the house because there was no wall to support it on the east side. The inside also got water damage. When Joseph Roberto died in 1988, the museum looked for new staff.
The museum hired new staff in April 1990. Margaret Halsey Gardiner became the executive director. Gardiner said the museum spent $600,000 to make the house stable again. A sculptor was hired to fix the plasterwork inside. An architecture firm researched the house's history. This was part of the museum's big plan. Researchers also started digging in the backyard. They wanted to find out more about the Tredwells. After eight or nine months of repairs, the museum reopened in December 1991. In 1994, workers removed graffiti from the house's front. The Vincent Astor Foundation gave the museum a $1 million grant in 1997. The museum also joined the Historic House Trust of New York City in the late 1990s.
Museum Operations: 2000s to Present
In the early 2000s, the museum offered tours of the neighborhood to raise money. This was important because the number of visitors could change. By the 2010s, forty volunteers helped run the museum. It had 15,000 visitors each year. The neighborhood around the museum had become a popular place to live. In 2018, an analysis found that if the building were still a home, it could sell for $6 million.
In 2012, a company proposed building an eight-story hotel right next to the house. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had to review the plans. This was because the hotel's construction could affect the house's structure. The hotel developers promised their building would not harm the museum. They said it would even make the museum stronger. The LPC finally approved the hotel in 2014. They had rejected three earlier plans. The LPC created a plan to protect the museum during construction.
Gardiner, the museum director, was against the hotel. Other preservationists also spoke out. They said the hotel's construction could make the house unstable. One museum guide said the plaster moldings could be permanently damaged if the house tilted even a little.
In early 2018, Gardiner filed a petition in court. She said the city had approved the hotel based on wrong information. Gardiner claimed the hotel's construction could cause the house to collapse. Museum officials put up signs warning that legal costs could bankrupt the museum. Gardiner officially sued the city and the hotel company in mid-2018. A city council committee voted against the hotel plans that September. The hotel company then sued to reverse the City Council's decision. They said they planned to make sure the house would not be damaged. The developer filed new plans for the hotel in late 2020. But the LPC delayed a decision. They were still worried about the house's structure. When the hotel was approved in late 2023, Gardiner said construction vibrations could cause "irreparable" damage. She threatened to sue again. While the hotel dispute continued, NYC Parks planned to renovate the Seabury Tredwell House for $3.2 million starting in late 2024.
What is the Architecture of the Merchant's House?
No single architect is officially credited with designing the Seabury Tredwell House. However, parts of its design might have come from architectural books published in the 1820s and 1830s. Some believe Menard Lafever influenced the design. A historian wrote that Joseph Brewster, who built the house, was inspired by Lafever. One architectural critic noted that the house's plaster and wood decorations were similar to Lafever's patterns from 1826.
The house has a Federal-style front and a Greek Revival interior. Some people have described its style differently over the years. One magazine called it a mix of Empire and Victorian styles. Another critic said it was the "purest example" of the Federal style in New York. The National Park Service says it's a transitional Greek Revival style. Many experts agree that it blends Federal and Greek Revival styles.
The Seabury Tredwell House is likely the only house in New York City with a fully preserved 19th-century interior. It's also one of the few late-Federal-style houses that hasn't been changed much. By the 1980s, it was Manhattan's only 19th-century house that still had its original furniture.
Exterior Design
The outside of the Seabury Tredwell House is four stories tall. It has three vertical sections, called bays. The basement is raised, so the first floor is about half a floor above the ground. The front of the house looked exactly like five other houses Brewster built. It also looked like three houses built by another developer that are now gone. Another house was a smaller copy of the Seabury Tredwell House. On the sides of the house are brick walls. These walls were originally shared with the houses next door.
A decorative iron fence separates the house from the street. It has fancy tops and caged newel posts. On the east side of the front, six steps with iron railings lead to the main entrance. There are Ionic columns on each side of the doorway. Above the door is an arch with a large, half-circle window called a fanlight. The basement and the first three floors are made of brick. The fourth floor is under a steep gable roof made of slate tiles. There are two windows that stick out from the roof on the fourth story. These are called dormer windows.
At the back of the house is a wooden addition built in 1850. A staircase goes from the first floor down to a small garden. There's a toilet under the steps and a water tank in the yard. Another stair goes from the basement to the garden. The water tank held 4,000 gallons. It was built before the city got its main water supply. In the mid-20th century, the garden had four magnolia trees. The garden has been changed over time. But by the 2000s, it had typical 19th-century plants. Some of these plants grew from seeds found during digs in the garden. As of 2023, the garden is open to the public. You can only get to it from the basement.
Interior Design
The building has about 4,218 square feet of space. The Seabury Tredwell House has a similar layout to many 19th-century rowhouses in New York City. The basement has the kitchen and family room. The first floor has the formal double living rooms, called parlors. Bedrooms are on the second, third, and fourth floors. The top floor bedrooms were for servants. There was also a coal room below the basement. This was later changed into a heating plant. In total, the house has about 18 rooms. Materials like Siena marble and plasterwork were common when the house was built. They were used throughout the building.
Basement Rooms
The raised basement has two main rooms. There's a family room in the front and a kitchen in the back. Between these rooms were two closets and a pantry. These were later changed into bathrooms and a small kitchen area. All these spaces are connected by a hallway on the east side of the basement. This hallway runs the entire length of the house. At each end of the hallway is a door with six panels. Above each door is a fanlight. A similar door with brass knobs leads from the basement hallway into the family room. There's also a door halfway down the hallway that was added later.
The family room has peach-colored walls with simple cornices at the top. There's a window on the south wall of the family room. It also has a fireplace with a black-and-gold marble mantelpiece. The family room was used for sitting, dining, sewing, reading, and writing. Visitors of the Tredwell family didn't usually go into this room. So, it didn't need to be as neat as the other rooms. After the house became a museum, the family room was turned into a children's playroom exhibit.
The kitchen has built-in Dutch ovens and a fireplace. It originally had a dumbwaiter, stove, and sink. These were removed in the 1930s when it became a museum. But a coal range and a sink were put back by the 1980s. The floors are made of wood. The fireplace is on the kitchen's west wall. The sink is to the right of the fireplace, and a closet is to the left. The sink had a hand pump that pulled water from the backyard tank. There's also a brick oven and a cast-iron stove on this wall. The lower parts of the other three kitchen walls are covered with wooden boards. The upper parts are plaster. The east and south walls have bells for servants.
First Floor Parlors
The main entrance of the Seabury Tredwell House leads to a square entryway. It has a black and white marble floor. The walls are painted to look like real Siena marble. The walls were painted using turkey feathers. At the top of the walls is a cornice with an egg-and-dart design. This supports a ceiling with a plaster rosette in the middle. At the north end of the entryway is a door to the main first-floor hallway. This door has eight mahogany panels and side windows. It's topped by a fanlight and a keystone with leaf designs.
The main hallway runs along the east side of the first floor. It has a plaster cornice with egg-and-dart moldings. The ceiling has a rosette with a cut-glass lantern. There's a staircase to the second floor on the right side of the hallway. A door under the stairs leads to a tea room. To the west of the main hallway are the two parlors. You get into the parlors through three mahogany doors. These doors have classical columns on the sides and a decorative top with egg-and-dart designs.
The parlors were designed to be symmetrical. Both rooms have two doorways on their east walls. But one of the front parlor's doorways is a false door. Both rooms also have 14-foot-tall ceilings. They have tall windows facing north and south. The rooms are connected by an arched opening with fluted columns. A sliding mahogany door is hidden between the rooms. This sliding door originally had silver trim. The columns have octagonal bases and capitals decorated with leaf patterns. Each parlor also has wide wooden baseboards and a cornice with different patterns. There are fireplaces in both rooms. They have coal grates, white marble hearthstones, and mantelpieces made of Belgian and Italian marble. The ceilings of each parlor have deep rosettes. Bronze chandeliers with glass globes hang from these. The original gas-powered chandeliers were connected to the city's power in 1935. The floors are covered with copies of a carpet the Tredwells once used.
There's a story about a secret passage in the wall between the two first-floor parlors. It supposedly leads to a drawer between the second-story master bedrooms. No one knows when or why this passage was built. The LPC says there are many untrue rumors about it. Some say it connected to the street or was used to sneak people in. Others claim it helped hide runaway slaves. An LPC report says the passage was probably used to fix the sliding parlor doors if they got out of line. A museum curator said in 1965 that the passage led to a dead end.
Upper Floor Bedrooms
A hallway runs the entire length of the second story. A lamp made of cut and etched glass lights it up. There are three bedrooms on this floor. The front of the house has a small "hall bedroom" to the east. A larger "master bedroom" is to the west. Another master bedroom is at the back of the house on the west side. The hall bedroom is the smallest and was also used as a study. Its doorways and window frames have blocks with carved leaf designs at the corners.
The two master bedrooms have Greek Revival-style doorways. These have columns on the sides and decorative tops. Similar decorations are around the windows. There are two gaslit wall lamps next to each window. Each master bedroom has a fireplace with white hearthstones, marble mantels, and a coal grate. The cornices and plaster rosettes in the bedrooms are smaller versions of those in the first-floor parlors. The back master bedroom has a straw carpet. The two front bedrooms have a carpet with geometric patterns. In these bedrooms, the family's original four-poster beds are still there, with their curtains.
More bedrooms were on the third and fourth floors. The third-floor bedrooms also have wooden decorations. These are simpler than the ones on the second floor. The Tredwell children used the bedrooms on the third floor. On the fourth floor, there's a living room for servants and four bedrooms connected to it.
Staircases
The house's staircases are built one above the other. There's a staircase between the basement and first floor on the far east side of the house. In the basement, a wooden wall separates the staircase from the hallway. At the bottom of the steps is a door and a brass bell on the wall.
The staircase between the first and second floors has a mahogany handrail. It's supported by mahogany and brass spindles. Each step has a decorative bracket at the end. At the bottom of the handrail is a newel post. This post is made of mahogany and has carved leaf designs. The stairway has a landing halfway between the first and second stories. A tall window on the north wall lights up this landing. At the top of the handrail is a post with a carved leaf. An architectural critic said this was designed in a style typical of Duncan Phyfe.
Another staircase connects the second and third floors. This stairway's railing has mahogany spindles and a newel post. This post is decorated with leaf wreaths only at its base and top. The design of this stairway dates back to the 1850s. It was moved about 42 inches north of its original spot. This was done to make room for a hand-pulled elevator. This elevator carried Sarah Tredwell to her room. The elevator is no longer there. But the rope and winding machine that supported it in the attic are still intact. As of 2021, there are no elevators in the house.
How the Museum Operates
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation owns the house. The Merchant's House Museum is run by Old Merchant's House Inc.. This is a nonprofit organization. Its goals are to run education programs, care for the collections, and restore the house and its items. The museum sells tickets for guided tours, self-guided tours, and neighborhood tours. There are signs with information in each room. Also, helpful guides are throughout the museum. Old Merchant's House Inc. also has an online gift shop. The organization has a special fund. This fund was started after the Vincent Astor Foundation gave a $1 million grant in 1997.
Museum Collection
As of 2022, the museum has almost 4,500 items. These items are generally divided into three groups. The oldest objects are from when Eliza and Seabury Tredwell married in 1820. The collection also has many Greek-style items. These were bought after the couple moved into the house in 1835. There are also Victorian-style items that Eliza bought after her husband died. After the museum's renovation in the 1970s, only the Tredwells' personal belongings have been shown.
When the museum opened in 1936, it had the Tredwell family's original furniture. This included pieces from a local cabinetmaker named Duncan Phyfe. There was furniture covered in horsehair. Tables had marble tops. Red curtains, which the family had kept for sixty years, were also there. Mahogany side chairs with red upholstery were on display. A mahogany dining table and a dozen "balloon-backed" chairs are in the two first-floor parlors. The house also had a music box, a grand piano, oil lamps, cupboards with rare china, and brass doorknobs. Toys and clothes are displayed on the upper floors. In the 1980s, one of the master bedrooms on the second floor had a "1835 mahogany canopy bed and a child's walnut field bed." The other had a chintz bed.
The clothes in the collection include 39 dresses worn by Eliza Tredwell and her daughters. These included ball gowns they wore as children. There were also robes they wore for breakfast. And black taffeta dresses they wore when they were older. Some clothes are from Gertrude Tredwell's summer clothing trunks. As a child, Gertrude took twenty trunks to the family's New Jersey summer house every year. But the family servant eventually stored some of the trunks because Gertrude never wore the clothes inside. Items like combs, gowns, and fans were shown in the walk-in closets. Mannequins wearing bonnets, gowns, gloves, and parasols were displayed in glass cases. A 1981 article noted that the clothes on the mannequins were changed each season.
The collection also has many household items. For example, the museum shows the family's cookware. There are 19th-century books and newspapers. Silver decorations are also on display. Tableware and mahogany pieces are in the parlor rooms. In the kitchen, items like the family's china collection and a pie safe are shown. Some unfinished needlepoint works by the Tredwells are also on display.
Events and Programs
Most of the museum's programs are educational. They include courses about 19th-century culture. These courses are for both young people and adults. In 1991, a local history group and the Merchant's House Museum started an education program. It was called Greenwich Village: History and Historic Preservation. The program ran at the museum until the late 1990s. Then it focused on a different area. Since at least the 1990s, some archaeological studies have happened at the house.
Several events are held regularly at the house. Music concerts often take place in the parlors. 19th-century romantic music is played every Valentine's Day. The museum also puts on mock funerals with 19th-century themes in the fall. The house is sometimes decorated with 1870s style during the Christmas season. Throughout the year, the museum also offers "ghost tours" by candlelight. Since 2006, these tours have included actors playing different family members.
Over the years, the house has hosted other events. It held a benefit in 1946. However, in 1956, the museum stopped Alfred Hitchcock from filming a movie there. The house has been used for plays. These include Old New York: False Dawn and A Christmas Carol. Other events have included dinners, summer lunches in the backyard, open house celebrations, and parties.
Landmark Status of the House
The Seabury Tredwell House is very important for its history and design. Because of this, it has received several special landmark titles. When the city's landmark law was signed in April 1965, a newspaper said the house was "a likely candidate for salvation." The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) named the Seabury Tredwell House one of the city's first 20 outdoor landmarks in October 1965. One newspaper says it was Manhattan's first official city landmark. At a public meeting for the landmark title, a curator from the Metropolitan Museum of Art called the house "a unique survival in the City of New York." The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1965. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. This was the day a new law about historic preservation started. The LPC also named the basement, first floor, and second floor of the Seabury Tredwell House as an interior landmark in 1981.
See also
