Merchant’s House Museum

Merchant’s House Museum. 29 E. Fourth St.. , About The House , This late-Federal and Greek Revival rowhouse is a lone survivor of Old New York, the only family home preserved intact – inside and out – from the 19th century. Built in 1832, it was home to a prosperous merchant-class family and their Irish servants for nearly 100 years and has been preserved complete with the family’s original furnishings, household objects, personal possessions, and even their clothing. Opened to the public as a museum in 1936, the Merchant’s House provides an intimate glimpse of domestic life during the period when New York transformed form a mercantile seaport into a thriving metropolis and the center of U.S. commerce. Visitors are given a unique opportunity to experience, with unparalleled authenticity, what daily like was like for the wealthy families who lived in this neighborhood, and also for their Irish servants – immigrants who fled famine and hardship in Ireland. Without them, the comfortable lives of their employers was impossible. , , National Historic Landmark (1965) , National Register of Historic Places (1966) , New York State Register of Historic Places (1980) , New York City Landmark (Individual – 1965, Interior – 1981)