Merchants House Museum

The Merchant’s House Museum is New York City’s only family home preserved intact — inside and out — from the 19th century.

Built in 1832 just steps from Washington Square, this elegant red-brick and white-marble row house on East Fourth Street was home to prosperous merchant Seabury Tredwell and his family for 100 years.

Today, the house offers a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life during the significant period of the 19th century when New York City transformed from a colonial seaport to become the center of U.S. culture and commerce and a “world city” on a par with London and Paris.

History

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.

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.