Little Old New York

In the distance, you see Co-op City, New York’s giant apartment complex on the suburban northern edge of the Bronx. But the house and the gardens are from a gracious, quiet past. I am talking of the Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park, which Robert Bartow built in 1836-1842 on a site where one of his ancestors, Thomas Pell, had bought land from the Siwaney Indians in 1654. Four generations of Pells had lived here on Long Island Sound in what was once the Manor of Pelham, and it was fitting that Robert Bartow should buy back some of the land that they had by then sold. The Bartows lived here until 1883, when the City of New York bought the house and two hundred acres of land as part of its new Pelham Bay Park. The Park duly came into being, but the house and carriage house were sorely neglected.

We learned all this on a lovely summer day, when my husband and I went to see the Bartow-Pell Mansion at the invitation of Mrs. Gerald O’Reilly. She is a member of the International Garden Club, which in 1914 raised $100,000 to restore the house and its vanishing gardens. Restoration of the main rooms began in 1945, and the house and gardens were opened to the public in 1946. Today, New York City maintains the exterior and nine acres of surrounding grounds, and the Garden Club is responsible for the interior and the gardens. The Bartow-Pell Mansion was declared a National Landmark in 1977.

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Nika Hazelton

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In the distance, you see Co-op City, New York’s giant apartment complex on the suburban northern edge of the Bronx. But the house and the gardens are from a gracious, quiet past. I am talking of the Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park, which Robert Bartow built in 1836-1842 on a site where one of his ancestors, Thomas Pell, had bought land from the Siwaney Indians in 1654. Four generations of Pells had lived here on Long Island Sound in what was once the Manor of Pelham, and it was fitting that Robert Bartow should buy back some of the land that they had by then sold. The Bartows lived here until 1883, when the City of New York bought the house and two hundred acres of land as part of its new Pelham Bay Park. The Park duly came into being, but the house and carriage house were sorely neglected.

We learned all this on a lovely summer day, when my husband and I went to see the Bartow-Pell Mansion at the invitation of Mrs. Gerald O’Reilly. She is a member of the International Garden Club, which in 1914 raised $100,000 to restore the house and its vanishing gardens. Restoration of the main rooms began in 1945, and the house and gardens were opened to the public in 1946. Today, New York City maintains the exterior and nine acres of surrounding grounds, and the Garden Club is responsible for the interior and the gardens. The Bartow-Pell Mansion was declared a National Landmark in 1977.