Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
This mansion has become a New York City landmark and
museum that is situated on the northern part of Pelham Bay Park in
the Bronx that had been the home of Marie Lorillard and Robert
Bartow that date back to 1654. The Lords of the Manor of Pelham had
owned the house that would be enlarged, restored and remodeled in
the Federal style, although the present house was constructed
between 1836 and 1841, with the ownership passing between the Bartow
and Pell families until it would be sold to the city of New York in
1888 by the descendants of the Bartow family. The mansion would be
unused and empty for many years before it was leased by the city to
Mrs. Charles Frederick Hoffman, Jr. in 1914 to house the
International Garden Club, Inc., an organization that she had
founded that would promote formal gardens and has now extended its
scope to include the preservation and restoration of the mansion.
The exterior has been restored and the formal gardens built during
the period from 1914 to 1917 and in 1936, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia
would use the mansion as his summer residence while he waited for
Orchard Beach to be constructed. The interior is furnished with
period antiques, and reopened in 1946, and includes the burial plot
of the Pell family. In 1978 it would be designated as a National
Historic Landmark that includes the entire estate, house and
carriage house. There are group tours, special events, educational
programs for kids and trail hikes.
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