Merchant's House Museum

The House remains OPEN during a major restoration. Want to know more? Click here.

Calendar of Events

Museum Members receive Free or discounted admission to many programs and special events.
Click here to learn about the Benefits of Membership.
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A “Best Kept Secret in the World” (TIME Style)

“Best museum for fully immersing yourself in Old New York:
The Merchant’s House”
Metro New York, BEST OF 2012

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Making Mother’s Day in May!
Eliza Tredwell’s Admission Special for the entire month:
Mothers visit FREE (with accompanying child, of whatever age).
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Friday, May 17, through Monday, May 20
2013 Noho Design District
The Merchant’s House is delighted to participate in the 4^th annual NoHo Design District. During the NDD, a group of designers working with modern craft techniques will infiltrate the house’s time-capsule interior with a beautiful juxtaposition of contemporary objects.
Included with regular admission. Reservations not required.

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Saturday, May 18, 7:30pm
Concert: SPRING FEVER! The Song Is on the Rose
The Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society revs up to a fever pitch with balmy lyrics to cure what ails you this spring. A 19th century salon of Art Song performed in the Museum’s authentic Greek revival parlors. Music by Debussy, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Wolf, Sullivan, and more. 75 minutes. $25, $10 MHM Members.

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Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 p.m. 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Headline Stories that Captivated 19^th Century New York
Actress, author, and New York City licensed tour guide Elise Gainer will present a collection of news stories of notorious murders, deadly riots, and devastating fires of the era, including the Brooklyn Theatre fire, the Astor Place Riots, and the murders of Mary Rogers and Dr. Harvey Burdell.  Hear excerpts from the papers of the day and see images that bring the events to life.
$15, MHM Members FREE. Click here to purchase tickets. MHM Members please call 212-777-1089 or email nyc1832@merchantshouse.org for reservations.

19th-Century Lifeways is the Museum’s new public program series — in which experts lecture on 19th century American decorative arts, architecture, New York City history, preservation, and related subjects. The Merchant’s House Museum’s intact 1832 landmark building and original collections provides the springboard for the lectures.

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Saturday, June 15, Noon to 6 p.m.
STOOP & SIDEWALK SALE!
Antiques – china & glassware – decorative furnishings – vintage clothes – fashion accessories – costume jewelry – linens, all for a song and all to benefit the Merchant’s House. Please donate — it’s tax deductible. Click here for the donation form.

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Every Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday, 2 p.m.
(Museum is closed Tuesday & Wednesday)
GUIDED TOUR of the Merchant’s House Museum
Included with regular admission. (Always FREE for Members)
Reservations not required for groups of fewer than 10 people.

Explore Manhattan’s “best-preserved” (The New York Times) 19th-century home and learn about the domestic life of a prosperous merchant family and their four Irish servants from 1835 to 1865, as New York City transformed from seaport to thriving metropolis. You’ll visit four floors of this Federal and Greek Revival style row house virtually complete with the family’s original furnishings and decorative arts.

In 2012, the Merchant’s House celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with the reopening of its newly restored 4th floor Servants’ Quarters, “arguably the oldest intact site of Irish habitation in Manhattan,” according to Time Out New York. You are invited to come climb the narrow staircase and see where the wealthy Tredwell family’s staff of four domestic servants lived and did some of their work.

By opening this rarely seen space, we can begin to tell the story of the courageous Irish women who fled poverty and starvation at home to find a better life for themselves and their families in mid-19th century New York. In addition to substantial structural repairs, the Servants’ Quarters also underwent a comprehensive paint analysis and is the first space in the House to be repainted its authentic 1850s colors.
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NEW!  Sundays, 1 p.m.
WALKING TOUR of 19th Century NoHo:
Glamour & Greed, Money & Murder
Join us for a journey back in time to the elite ‘Bond Street area,’ home to Astors, Vanderbilts, Delanos — and the Tredwells, who lived in the Merchant’s House.  You’ll walk the footsteps of these wealthy mercantile families whose elegant Federal mansions once lined the tranquil cobblestone streets.

Our tour passes by iconic landmarks such as the imposing Colonnade Row, the Public Theater (in 1854 the City’s first public library), and The Cooper Union, site of impassioned political speeches from Lincoln to Obama. On the bustling Astor Place, we’ll imagine the drama of events that led to the Opera House riot of 1849, among the bloodiest in American history. And we’ll visit the site of the scandalous 1857 Bond Street murder of Harvey Burdell, one of the City’s still unsolved crimes.

Tour is 50 minutes and begins promptly at 1pm.
Promenaders will return to the Museum in time to take the 2pm GUIDED TOUR if they wish.
$10. Students $ Seniors $5. FREE for Members.
Reservations not necessary.

NOTE: Tours are canceled in the case of heavy rain, snow, or extreme heat and cold advisories.
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Past Programs