Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden

421 East 61st Street

New York, NY  10065

(212) 838-6878

http://www.mvhm.org

Open: Tuesday-Sunday-11:00am-4:00pm

Fee: Adults $8.00/Seniors & Students $7.00  Donation

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The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum at 421 East 61st Street

Mount Vernon historical sign during the summer months

The history of the building

The model of the building

I had come across the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum when I was walking on East 61st Street for my blog and went to take the tour of the building. It is a one hour (or more as I there for almost two hours but I was by myself) tour of both floors. You start with a film and a quick talk about the history of the building. The hotel building has had several owners and uses over its over hundred years.

I visited the museum during the holiday season in 2025 and I got to see all the decorations around the hotel. There was elegant decorations in most of the rooms and got to see how people ate during the holiday season as well as with visits guests would have indulged in when they came for the day.

Then you start the tour of the upper room where the ladies would gather and talk. This is where they might have tea, musical recitals and read and sew. They would gather with other women for conversation and debate.

The Upstairs foyer gallery

The foyer landing decorated for the holidays with the former traveler, James Taylor, who discussed in his memoir about visiting the hotel

The Ladies Parlor

The upstairs is where the sleeping rooms and the ladies parlors are located, where female guests would enjoy tea, games, music and reading. The main landing was for dancing and for gatherings.

The Ladies Palour with the Chinese writing desk and festive decorations.

The room set for tea with Englishware

The holiday set up afternoon service

The sleeping rooms were kept simple and functional

The Men’s game room

The main floor was the Men’s gaming rooms, where there is a bar and two rooms for male activities such as cards, gambling and reading. Here the men would discuss politics and business over a drink and games of chance.

The main games room

The main entrance was used as the dining room for dinner (our lunch), which was the biggest meal of the day served around 2:00pm.

The bar area where spirits are sold

The afternoon supper was part of the package and couples would join one another for a several course meal, which would serve as the main meal of the day.

Dinner time at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum

The tour guide went over what would have been served, menu’s and meal times. Dinner would have been served at 2:00pm, tea time would have been around 4:00pm-6:00pm and Supper around 8:00pm.

The multi course meal for everyday on display

The meal would include popular dishes such as turkey and oysters and a specialty, Turtle soup. Fresh vegetables and fancy desserts would be part of the package.

The tour of the kitchen show preparation of foods, recipe books and all kitchen equipment including the stoves and baking materials.

The kitchen for both the hotel and house

The kitchen used to cook afternoon meals

The area used for baking and roasting

If you like the history of “Old New York” and like old homes, hotels and buildings, this is a very interesting tour that deals with the City’s growing middle-class and the new ‘leisure time’ that was coming with the changes in the work week. There are many pieces of period furniture all over the building that show the growth of affluence of the time.

The side board set with holiday desserts

The side board ladened with holiday treats

Don’t miss the formal walled in garden in the back. It is a place of relaxation from the rest of the city. There are stone walk ways and landscaped gardens as well as an herb garden. The building is owned and maintained by the Colonial Dames of America.

The walled gardens during the winter

The walled garden in the winter

I revisited the museum for the holidays and the hotel was decked out in garland and holy based on the decor traditional for the Revolutionary War era Christmas. The archways and tables were lined with greenery and the tables were loaded with oranges plunged with cloves to give the homes at that time a rich citrus smell.

The downstairs dining table was set for a Christmas meal of wild turkey, mock turtle soup, and apple and pumpkin pies. This would have been served in the afternoon as the main meal while it was still light out.

Holiday goodies at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum getting ready for the holidays

There had been a light snow while we were touring the hotel so when we visited the gardens, it really did have that Christmas feel to it with that light snow all over the pine and the bushes.

How the neighborhood has changed

The old stable area

During the time of the Revolutionary War and afterwards, homes were not as elaborately decorated as they would have been during Victorian times after the Civil War. Homes were lined with greenery that would have given the home the fragrant smell of pine and strings of cranberries and popcorn would have been used to decorate mantles.

The hotel decorated for the holidays

The hotel was getting ready for one of its many special events during the holidays so there was a lot of commotion going on downstairs. It is a very festive looking place for the holidays so try to tour it when it is open in the month of December.

The museum in the 2025 holiday season  

What is the Museum:

Constructed in 1799 as a carriage house and converted into a ‘day hotel’ in 1826, the Museum transports visitors back to Mount Vernon Hotel, a 19th Century country resort for New Yorkers escaping the crowded city below 14th Street.

The model of the original house layout

Recognizing the building as one of the few remaining 18th century sites and the only surviving day hotel in New York City Historic Landmark in 1967, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and accredited by the American Association of Museums in 1983.

History of the House:

The Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden presents the period of the Mount Vernon Hotel which operated from 1826 until 1833.

Constructed in 1799 as a carriage house for a 23 acre estate and converted into the Mount Vernon in 1826, this stone building sits on land originally owned by Colonel William Stephens Smith and his wife, Abigail Adams Smith, the daughter of John Adams.

This fashionable country resort was popular among New Yorkers who wished to escape the hustle among the bustle of the city, which at that time extended only as far north 14th Street. The Hotel advertised “free from the noise and dust of the public roads and fitted up and intended for only the most gentle respectable” clientele. In those days, one could take the stagecoach or steamboat up to 61st Street spend the day at the hotel sipping lemonade in the ladies parlor or playing cards in the gentlemen’s.

In 1833, the house became the home for three generations of a New York City family. In 1905, as the area became more industrialized, the building was purchased by Standard Gas Light Company (today’s Con-Edison). The Colonial Dames of America, a woman’s patriotic society purchased the building in 1924 and did an extensive restoration to the structure, the Colonial Dames opened the site to the public in 1939. The building endures as a rare reminder of an important era in New York City’s history.

What the organization does:

*Welcome 5000 school children annually in grades-pre-K through high school for field trips.

*Summer History Weeks for children ages 6-12

*A Summer High School Internship for 15 students to support college readiness skills and career exploration.

*Two summer Hearst Fellowships for undergraduates or graduate students.

*40+public programs each year, including:

-monthly free Story time

-monthly Lunchtimes lectures

-holiday programs, garden concerts, hands on craft and cooking workshops.

*Temporary exhibitions on facets of life in early 19th century NYC, some promoting local contemporary artists.

*Special programs for individuals with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

*Outreach programs to schools, senior centers and homeless shelters.

*Themed group tours focused on 19th century food, decorative arts or literature.

*Three options for team building events.

*Two free admission days: Smithsonian Museum Day and Open House New York.

Programs are made possible in part by the support of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Ben Kallos, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Rosenthal Foundation and the Michael Tuch Foundation.

(Mount Vernon Hotel Pamphlet)

The Colonial Dames of America:

With these words, spoken in April 1890, Maria Denning “May” Van Rensselaer imitated what was to become the oldest colonial lineage society for women in the United States. The Colonial Dames of America. Its mission is to preserve historic sites and objects, award scholarships, educate the public about American history, inspire patriotism and promote fellowship among its members.

(The Colonial Dames of America information).

The backyard gardens in the Winter time

Video on the museum