We try to keep this list of historic house museums for New York current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information.
If you know of a historic house museum not in our list, please submit it.
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The Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island recalls the world of an exceptional woman, photographer Alice Austen. Austen's quaint, Victorian cottage-style home, with a magnificent view of New York Harbor, displays prints from the large glass negative collection of her work that depict turn-of-the-century American life. Read More

Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, with its splendid Greek Revival interiors, is tucked away in a lovely, quiet corner of Pelham Bay Park – an area that was once home to more than 20 elegant country estates. As the only grand country house still in existence on Pelham Bay, it provides an important link to the social and architectural history of… Read More

The Bement-Billings Farmstead features the Federal style house built in 1794 by Revolutionary War veteran Asa Bement, on land that was part of the Boston Purchase. This living history museum is staffed on summer weekends by costumed volunteers who cook on the open hearth and give tours. Asa’s son added a formal Greek Revival parlor, additional bedrooms, and a… Read More

Built between 1804 and 1808 on a 250-acre river front site in Montrose, New York, Boscobel is considered to be one of the finest examples of Federal-style architecture in New York. Boscobel’s complex history represents several different periods and restoration philosophies. The house is restored to the Federal style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and is… Read More

Tour historical homes, a rural church and one-room schoolhouses from the Buffalo Niagara region. Read More

Historic Cherry Hill tells a story of America through the lives and experiences of five generations of an Albany, New York family. One of Albany's most recognizable landmarks, Cherry Hill, built in 1787 for Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer, is rare among this country's house museums. Its extensive and intact collection is unique. It includes more than 70,000 items-decorative… Read More

Clermont was built between 1740 and 1750, by Robert Livingston, Jr., on land acquired in 1686 by his father, just a dozen years after New Netherland finally became British New York. A royal patent secured by Robert Livingston, Sr. granted him the privileges of a manor lord and 160,000 acres, stretching all the way from the Hudson River’s east… Read More

Crailo was built in the early 18th century by Hendrick Van Rensselaer, grandson of the First Patroon. Hendrick died in 1740 and his eldest son, Johannes, inherited Crailo. He remodeled the house and added an east wing in the Georgian style, reflecting the increasing influence of the English on the Albany-area Dutch. In the late 18th century, Crailo was… Read More

The Dyckman family sold the prosperous farm in 1868 and moved to a more fashionable mansion on Broadway. In 1915, two sisters, Mary Alice D. Dean and Fannie Fredericka D. Welsh, descendants of William Dyckman, bought back the family house and began extensive reconstructionone of the earliest historic restorations undertaken in New York. They presented it to the City… Read More

Steepletop is the former estate of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. It encompasses a wonderfully preserved home with her personal artifacts, historic gardens and walking trails on 200 bucolic acres overlooking the Taconic Mountains on the eastern border of NY near the Berkshires. Read More

Built in 1719 as an elegant residence for the merchant Stephan Delancey and his family, in 1762 the home was purchased by tavern-keeper Samuel Fraunces, who turned it into one of the most popular taverns of the day. Though it is best known as the site where Washington gave his farewell address to the officers of the Continental Army,… Read More

This historic house is preserved as a memorial to the lives of Antonio Meucci and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Antonio Meucci, a native of Florence, Italy, lived here until his death in 1889. In 1849, while experimenting with the new phenomenon of electricity, he discovered that sound could be transmitted by electric wires. Alexander Graham Bell was then two years old. Read More

George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film combines the world's leading collections of photography and film with the stately pleasures of the landmark Colonial Revival mansion and gardens that George Eastman called home from 1905 to 1932. Read More

Gracie Mansion stands in Carl Schurz Park above Hell Gate, a roaring stretch of water where the Harlem and East Rivers meet. The 18th-century house, built by a man who made and lost his fortune at sea, is now the official residence of the Mayor of the City of New York. Read More

Travel back in time as one of our knowledgeable docents leads you through the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum. Listen to stories of the four generations of Grangers, who lived in this magnificent home from 1816-1930. Read More

Amid the 19th century rowhouses in the Second Street Historic District in downtown Troy sits a white marble house, completed in 1827, just as Troy was beginning its shift from a commercial to an industrial economy base. The Hart-Cluett House, as it is known today, was constructed for a businessman-banker’s family, the Harts, and sold six decades later to… Read More

The village area occupies 25 acres of a 100-acre site with about 15 restored buildings, including homes and commercial and civic buildings, as well as a museum. Read More

The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site contains "Springwood", the lifelong home of America's only 4-term President. Also on the site is the Presidential Library and Museum, operated by the National Archives. Visitors may enjoy a guided tour of FDR's home, take a self-guided tour of the Museum and stroll the grounds, gardens, and trails of this… Read More

The Kent-Delord House Museum, on the shore of Lake Champlain and near the heart of historic downtown Plattsburgh, New York, is this region’s only Historic House museum, is the area’s oldest house in its original form, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is dedicated to bringing 200+ years of American history to life. The Museum… Read More

King Manor, the oldest house in Jamaica, Queens, is the focal point of the historic 11-acre King Park. The house takes its name from the 18th and 19th century statesman Rufus King, who signed the constitution, spoke out against the spread of slavery, and served as a senator from New York for 19 years. Read More

Built between 1774 and 1785, the Kingsland Homestead is one of the earliest surviving examples of residential style construction common throughout Long Island, specifically Queens, in the late 18th and 19th centuries. A Long Island half-house, it is characterized by a wide side hall and double parlors off to one side. Other features include a central chimney between the… Read More

This hilltop paradise was home to four generations of the Rockefeller family, beginning with the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His business acumen made him, in his day, the richest man in America. Now a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this extraordinary landmark has been continuously and meticulously maintained for more than… Read More

Built by a Dutch family in the 18th century farming village of Flatbush, Lefferts Historic House interprets the history of Brooklyn’s environment from pre-Colonial times until the present, using its working garden, historic artifacts, and documents, as well as period rooms and exhibits. Read More

Overlooking the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, NY, the 150 acre estate of Samuel F.B. Morse includes an Italianate villa designed by Alexander Jackson Davis containing extensive collections of American and European decorative and fine arts. Three miles of carriage roads wind through landscaped grounds, romantic gardens and shady groves. Read More

Overlooking the Hudson River in Tarrytown NY is Lyndhurst, one of America's finest Gothic Revival mansions. The architectural brilliance of the residence, designed in 1838 by Alexander Jackson Davis, is complemented by a park-like landscape and a comprehensive collection of original decorative arts. Read More

In a storybook setting of productive fields and a matchless Mohawk River landscape sits the Jan Mabee Farm - the oldest in the Mohawk Valley. The stone house was owned by the same family for nearly 300 years. Coupled with the Inn and Slave Quarters buildings as well as a New World Dutch Barn and other outbuildings, the site… Read More

Martin Van Buren purchased this house and farm while he was president and grew the estate to eventually include 226 acres. Read More

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. Read More

Montgomery Place, a serene reflection of nearly 200 years of continuous family stewardship, is best known as a landscape influenced by the great Andrew Jackson Downing and an architectural landmark designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. But the totality of the estate - house, gardens, arboretum, woodlands, orchards, hamlet, and natural features - makes it a unique American treasure. Read More

Manhattan's oldest surviving house, the Morris-Jumel Mansion atop Harlem Heights, is a monument to colonial grandeur. Built about 1765 as a summer retreat for British colonel Roger Morris and his wife, Mary Philipse, its distinctive style was very advanced for its time. Morris, the son of a successful English architect, may have influenced the Palladian design, which includes a… Read More

Constructed in 1799 as a carriage house for a 23-acre estate, and converted into the Mount Vernon Hotel in 1826, this stone building sits on land originally owned by Colonel William Stephens Smith, and his wife Abigail Adams Smith, daughter of John Adams. Read More

Home of the legendary American civil rights leader during the most politically active period of her life, and the site of her famous arrest for voting in 1872. Read More

Olana State Historic Site was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900), one of the major figures in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. The centerpiece of Olana is an eclectic villa composed of many styles, difficult to categorize, which overlooks parkland and a working farm designed by the artist. Read More

The Phelps Mansion Museum was built in 1870 for Sherman D. Phelps, a local Binghamton businessman, by architect, Isaac G. Perry. The "Gem" is an exceptional example of the outstanding ability of Perry to coordinate into the design, beautiful rare woods, metal, and glass in the interior of the house. A beautiful Baccarat crystal chandelier from 1890 adorns the… Read More

Philipsburg Manor is a historic site of great historical importance. Once the headquarters of an enormous Hudson Valley manor, the site vividly interprets aspects of the history of colonial New York and the system of racially-based slavery which helped keep the estate running in the 18th century. The visitor center at Philipsburg, located on Rt. 9 in the village… Read More

Edgar Allan Poe spent the last years of his life, from 1846 to 1849, in The Bronx at Poe Cottage, now located at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. A small wooden farmhouse built about 1812, the cottage once commanded unobstructed vistas over the rolling Bronx hills to the shores of Long Island. It was a bucolic setting in… Read More

Charles Butler, a Geneva attorney, built the Prouty-Chew House as a Federal style home in 1829. Phineas Prouty, a local merchant, purchased the home in 1842. The property remained in the Prouty family for 60 years. Between 1858 and 1883, extensive alterations were made to the house, giving it the eclectic look seen today. Beverly Chew, the great-grandson of… Read More

This 47-acre tract of farmland exemplifies the 300-year history of agriculture and farming as a way of life and livelihood in Queens County. The restored Adriance Farmhouse, the centerpiece of the farm complex, was first built as a three-room Dutch farmhouse in 1772. The farmhouse and surrounding 7-acre historic area mirror the evolution of this unique tract of land… Read More

Heavily remodeled over the years, the house has been restored to its 1740s appearance. Read More

Considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States, Rose Hill Mansion was restored in the 1960s through the generosity of Waldo Hutchins Jr. in honor of his mother, Agnes Swan Hutchins, who grew up in the house. The house is furnished with many pieces that belonged to the Swan family, including a Severin… Read More

Sagamore Hill was the home of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, from 1885 until his death in 1919. From 1902 to 1908 his "Summer White House" was the focus of international attention. Otherwise, it was the home of a most remarkable fellow. Read More

The Georgian structure, reflecting Schuyler's English tastes - was built on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. Originally situated on an 80-acre tract of land, the grounds once included an orchard, a formal garden, and a working farm. Throughout the Schuyler family occupancy from 1763-1804, the mansion was the site of military strategizing, political hobnobbing, elegant social affairs, and… Read More

The historic home of William Henry Seward and his family. Serving as a New York State Senator, Governor of New York, a U.S. Senator, and as Secretary of State in the Lincoln and Johnson administrations, Seward was one of the foremost politicians of nineteenth century America. Read More

A beautiful Victorian mansion and gardens, located at the north end of Canandaigua Lake was ormerly the summer home of Canandaigua benefactors Frederick Ferris and Mary Clark Thompson. Read More

The Rogers Mansion was built by Captain Albert Rogers in 1843, at the peak of the whaling industry. The property had been in his family since 1648. In 1898 Samuel L. Parrish, a wealthy NYC attorney and land developer purchased the home and added many colonial-revival additions. The Museum acquired the one-acre property in 1952 and began adding historic… Read More

Sunnyside, a National Historic Landmark, is the meticulously restored and charmingly picturesque home of renowned author Washington Irving. America's first successful, internationally known author, Washington Irving's writings include numerous works of fiction, history and biography. He is best remembered for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, stories that are enduring hallmarks in American literature, culture, and… Read More

House constructed 1797-98 for Abraham Ten Broeck and his family; remodelled c.1836 and operated as a house museum since 1948 by the Albany County Historical Association. Read More

Explore 15,000 square feet of four floors within the Wickwire Residence in Downtown Cortland, NY. The grand limestone Chateauesque style mansion, built by industrialist and local philanthropist Chester F Wickwire and designed by architect Samuel Burrage Reed, features parquet floor, jewel-like stained glass windows, oak and cherry woodwork, and ornate decorative stenciling. Read More

The house is an 1892 Queen Anne designed by Elfred Bartoo and was the first home of Harlow E. Bundy, founder of Bundy Mfg. and progenitor of IBM. Currently it showcases middle-class lifestyles in the late Victorian period and features exhibits including the timeclock collection and a modern art gallery. It frequently hosts educational and social events and programs. Read More

This majestic house, architecturally unique in the Hudson Valley, is remarkably intact, having been little changed over the years. There is a wealth of original interior and exterior architectural detail. The House is interpreted to reflect, not only the life of a wealthy 19th century family, but the rich history and traditions of Newburgh and the larger Hudson Valley. Read More

The Cobblestone Museum is an open-air museum that promotes the study and exploration of cobblestone construction methods from 1825 to 1860, offering visitors the opportunity to explore three period cobblestone structures set in Victorian appearance and four wood structures highlighting 19th century agricultural implements and skilled trades. Read More

Built by English immigrant Captain Christopher Billopp, in or around the year 1680, this handsome stately manor was a wheat farm throughout the first century of its existence. An invaluable relic in America's history, the Conference House was the site of a 1776 peace conference which attempted to end the Revolutionary War. Edward Rutledge, John Adams, Lord Howe and… Read More

The Harriet Tubman Home preserves the legacy of "The Moses of Her People" in the place where she lived and died in freedom. Read More

In 1852, Dr. Andrew Oliver built a large brick Italianate style house on Main Street in Penn Yan. This 18 room home was a wedding gift for his son, William, who also pursued a medical career. William had three children, Jennie, William (another doctor), and Carrie who lived their entire lives in the Oliver House. As none of these… Read More

The impressive Greek Revival structure stands on the south shore of Staten Island; among its chief glories is a panoramic view of Prince’s Bay. The land upon which the Mansion sits was purchased by James Seguine between 1780-1786. Seguine Avenue and Seguine Point in Prince’s Bay were named after this prosperous family, whose ancestors first settled on Staten Island… Read More

Based on the family life of pioneers Orringh and Elizabeth Stone, the Stone-Tolan House Museum represents the private and the public activities of a household and rural tavern on the frontier in Brighton, NY between 1790 and 1820. Read More

Roosevelt's original birthplace was demolished in 1916. After Roosevelt's death in 1919, the site was purchased by the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association, rebuilt and decorated with many of its original furnishings by Roosevelt's sisters and wife. Read More

Blacksmith Isaac Valentine built this four-level fieldstone farm house in 1758 near the Boston Post Road. His property included a blacksmith shop, outhouses, farmland, and a number of slaves. His homestead was later the site of six skirmishes between American troops and British forces, who occupied the house for most of the Revolutionary War. After the Revolution, the Valentines… Read More

Van Cortlandt House in the Bronx is a fine example of an 18th-century vernacular Georgian home, set in a wide valley in the third largest park in New York City. Read More

At Van Cortlandt Manor, explore the stone manor house and brick ferry house, wander through the heritage gardens, and stroll down a quiet country road along the Croton River. Read More

Historically known as Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site is one of the region's oldest Hudson River estates. For nearly two centuries, this place has been home to socially prominent New Yorkers. A superb example of its type, Hyde Park represents the domestic ideal of the elite class in the late nineteenth-century America. It provides a glimpse of… Read More

The original Italianate villa designed by John Warren Ritch was remodeled and enlarged in 1888 by Thomas's son Robert Bowne Suckley and his wife, Elizabeth Philips Montgomery. Poughkeepsie architect Arnout Cannon was hired to transform the two story villa into an elaborate Queen Anne style country house. The structure now soared upward with the addition of a third floor,… Read More

Once a stone's throw from salt marshes and clam beds, the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House Museum is probably the oldest home in New York City. The house, built around 1652, became the City's first landmark in 1965. Read More