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The house seen from the back garden |
Built in 1832, the house (on East Fourth Street, between
Layfayette Street and Bowery) was sold to Seabury Tredwell (an NYC merchant) in
1840. He and his wife lived there with their eight children (six girls and two
boys), with the youngest daughter Gertrude maintaining the house in near
original condition until her death in 1933.
You can still see the original décor and furniture – a dining
table, with its extra leaves to extend when the Tredwells entertained, beds which
family members were born and died in, bells rang to summon servants. And the
museum even has a collection of the family’s clothes. While I was there,
several of the family’s wedding dresses were on special display – from a plain
empire line gown from the 1810s, to the more full-skirted and highly-decorated
styles of the 1840s. Not that weddings were especially plentiful in the
Tredwell family – only two daughter and one son of the eight ever married and
no direct descendants remain.
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Inside the Merchant's House Museum |
The museum’s continued survival however is not guaranteed.
Wrangling over the development of an adjacent property which could affect the
House’s structural integrity is ongoing and the staff are noticeably grateful
when they see visitors. The Merchant’s House Museum is well worth a visit,
giving a wonderful glimpse into the world of nineteenth-century New York for only
$10. It’s a chance to duck off the busy streets and step back in time.
The Secret Victorianist is back in London, but will be returning
to NYC come September. Do you know any other attractions she should visit? Let
me know here, on Facebook or by tweeting @SVictorianist!
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The Tredwells' kitchen |
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