The Manhattan Times

New ideas for a very old house: Morris-Jumel Mansion

by Adam Garrett-Clark

Manhattan’s oldest house has gone modern.

Once the home where George Washington shot paranoid glances over his shoulder in search of Redcoats, it’s now a place for cocktail parties catalyzed by Facebook.

Beginning as a colonial summer home, then Washington’s military headquarters during the American Revolution, the Morris-Jumel Mansion at W. 160th Street just east of St. Nicholas Avenue, has gone through a series of reincarnations, including a travelers’ hostel and a tavern along the way to becoming the 18th and 19th century period museum it is today.The mansion’s Director of Education and Public Programs Carol Ward is currently ushering in a new era for the museum, creating a number of specialized tours and events geared toward specific audiences and ultimately expanding the museum’s visitor pool.

As a historic house without a constantly changing collection like MoMa or the Met, the mansion is always presented with the task of finding new ways to make the museum interesting, Ward said.

To draw in young adults, a demographic generally elusive to a museum, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is planning a series of wine tasting based on the 13 colonies in the spring. Last Fri., Oct. 23 was the first test drive of the event. Nearly 50 guests, the majority of them under 35, sampled local wines from Long Island and snacked on refreshments donated by Whole Foods in the same room that Washington likely entertained his own guests over 200 years earlier. Local guitarist and museum volunteer Jason Mendoza played live music for the patrons as they mingled in what is called the octagonal drawing room, an eight-walled room designed for turtle soup parties – a popular event at the time of the mansion’s construction.

The other rooms on the first floor like the parlor where Allen Burr married Madame Eliza Jumel in 1833 or the dining room where Washington returned in 1790 to dine with his cabinet, which included future presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, are sectioned off allowing only a view.

Last month’s tasting was the first evening event in the historic mansion’s recent history, Ward said. Admitting that she and her staff were nervous as they prepared for an alcohol filled night surrounded by 18th century artifacts, Ward later said the event was a success.

Those that were queried afterward agreed. Marketing the event through email blasts and on their Web site, Ward believes the messages sent out on its recently created Morris-Jumel Mansion Facebook fan page were the most effective marketing tool.

Ward is currently in discussions with a theatrical director who lives nearby about the feasibility of staging plays in the mansion. And to continue to market to specialized audiences, events are being planned on the role of chocolate in the 18th century for chocolate lovers and a colonial tea party targeted for pre-teen and young girls.

“They can bring their dolls with them,” Ward said. 

When she was hired in August of 2008, Ward knew she needed to reinvigorate the place, just as museums across the country are doing.

“[In New York] we’re up against some pretty stiff competition,” she said.

The museum’s biggest visitor base is the city’s elementary schools. Around this time of year the museum sees at least one school group every day of the week. Through catering her newly designed tours to New York State educational requirements and comments from teachers Ward has increased the number of students who visit, from 3,000 the year before she came to 5,000.

She’s hoping for 6,000 this year, she said.

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