New York

Manhattan

Morris-Jumel Mansion

The stately Morris-Jumel Mansion occupies the space at 65 Jumel Terrace which is uptown between West 160th and 162nd Streets. British Colonel Roger Morris and his American wife, Mary Philipse, built the house eleven years before the Revolution, in 1765.

The Mansion is built in the Palladian style, with a second story balcony and a two-story front portico supported by classical columns. The two-story octagon at the rear of the house is believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in the colonies.
The breezy hilltop location proved an ideal location for the

family's summer home. Known as Mount Morris, this northern Manhattan estate stretched from the Harlem to the Hudson Rivers and covered more than 130 acres. Because they were loyal to the crown, the Morrises eventually returned to England as a result of the American victory.

Morris-Jumel Mansion was headquarters to General Washington in September and October of 1776. With views of the Harlem River, the Bronx, and Long Island Sound to the east, New York City and the harbor to the south, and the Hudson River and Jersey Palisades to the west, Mount Morris proved to be a strategic military headquarters.

It was during this period that the General's troops forced a British retreat at the Battle of Harlem Heights After Washington's departure, the Mansion played host to a succession of British and Hessian military leaders. President Washington returned to the Mansion on July 10, 1790, and dined with members of his cabinet. Guests at the table included three future Presidents of the United States: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams. Alexander Hamilton and Henry Knox were in attendance as well.

The mansion served briefly as an inn for weary travelers, and finally returned to its role as country house. The departure of the British at the close of the revolution did not end the upheaval in the life of the Mansion. Serving as an inn for New York City-bound travelers, ownership of the house passed through many hands. Finally, in 1810, the French emigrant Stephen Jumel and his wife Eliza restored the Mansion to its original purpose as a country house.

Stephen and Eliza added new doorways and stained glass to the facade of the Mansion. As regular visitors to France, they furnished much of the house in the French Empire style. Many of those objects, including a bed said to have belonged to the Emperor Napoleon, remain in the Mansion today.

Stephen Jumel died in 1832, and Eliza, then one of the wealthiest women in New York, later married the former U.S. Vice President, Aaron Burr. The first floor of the 8,500 square foot house features rooms for family and social gatherings, and includes the parlor in which Madame Eliza Jumel married Aaron Burr in 1833. Bedrooms on the second floor include those of George Washington, Eliza Jumel, and Aaron Burr. The basement houses the colonial-era kitchen and tells the story of domestic servitude at the Mansion

Across the hall stands the dining room where Washington likely entertained his guests in 1790 with the octagonal drawing room, or withdrawing room, providing a grand setting for social gatherings. The room features the original hearth and a beehive oven as well as a collection of early American cooking utensils.

Their marriage lasted just two years and Eliza retained ownership of the Mansion until her death in 1865. After a twenty-year court battle, finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, they divided and sold the property.
In 1894 General Ferdinand P. and Lillie Earle purchased it. In tune with the deep patriotic sentiment of the late 19th century, the Earle's revered Washington and the Mansion's history as his headquarters.

It is the oldest home in Manhattan, haunted by at least three separate spirits. Eliza Jumel, the wife of Aaron Burr and former mistress of the mansion wanders the mansion in a purple dress. She raps on walls and windows indicating that she is there. A young servant girl roams the mansion also. She committed suicide or was bushed out of the upstairs window. These ghost are not alone for they have a male visitor, an American Revolutionary soldier who appears from time to time.

The Mansion itself survived the subdivision along with a small plot of land. They persuaded the City of New York to purchase the house with its ghosts and remaining property in 1903 and to preserve it as a monument to the nation's past.

Back To Top

Back To US Map