Manhattan's Oldest Home Is An Elegant Hilltop Mansion With Ghost Lore And Revolutionary War History

It's hard to imagine the metropolitan island of Manhattan as a pre-developed expanse of open fields and gentle hills — today, travelers have to head to the serene beauty of New York City's hidden islands to escape the hustle. But when the Morris-Jumel Mansion was first built around 1765, it was considered a pastoral summertime retreat, perfectly overlooking a hill surrounded by farmland and forest. Inevitably, the city rose up all around it, but the mansion remained firmly in place, and it still stands there today as a museum open to the public. Its patch of parkland retains at least a bit of that pastoral charm that initially gave rise to the mansion, and, sheltered by gardens and trees, it still feels somewhat like a secret refuge from the city.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion may not be the oldest surviving building overall in Manhattan — that title goes to the world-famous Fraunces Tavern, also the city's oldest restaurant — but it is the oldest surviving residential structure. From its time of construction, it's accumulated some staggering history. The structure was built for British Colonel Roger Morris and his family, but was abandoned around the start of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington then occupied the house with his Continental Army, and it became the army's headquarters during the Battle of Harlem Heights in 1776. In the early 19th century, the mansion became the estate of the Jumel family. Eliza Jumel married Vice President Aaron Burr right in the mansion's very own parlor. Allegedly, visitors often experience paranormal phenomena — moving objects, indistinct voices — in Burr's former bedroom.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion is located at the narrow northern tip of Manhattan, in the overlooked neighborhood of Washington Heights that's full of grand architecture and walkable streets. It's about a 30-minute subway train ride from Midtown Manhattan via the C train, which stops just about a block away at 163rd St.-Amsterdam Av. Before you reach the house, you'll walk along the beautiful little street called Sylvan Terrace leading up to it. Sylvan Terrace itself is a surprisingly quaint historic gem, with 19th-century wooden townhouses and a cobbled street. The street is elevated, accessible by a staircase, as it leads up the hill on which the mansion sits, and it once served as the carriage drive to the mansion before the townhouses were built.

Once you climb up to Roger Morris Park, you can freely wander the park and its manicured gardens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Be sure to see the Sunken Garden, which was revitalized to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's visit to the mansion. The mansion itself has paid admission with a choice of either a self-guided or guided tour, available from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. 

Inside the building, you'll see the parlor where Eliza Jumel and Aaron Burr married, a rare octagonal-shaped salon, and the room that George Washington once used as his office during battle. Make sure to stop in the basement, too, where there's a permanent exhibition about the more somber side of the mansion's history — its focus is the enslaved and indentured workers of the house who lived there. The mansion also hosts regular programming, which has included such events as a George Washington-themed dinner and live jazz performances. And if you're into the paranormal side of the residence, it frequently hosts ghost tours (sometimes even by candlelight).