Family Outing: Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum

A National Landmark, the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx is a cultural haven hidden away from the bustle of the borough that offers plenty of fun festivals and activities for families throughout the year.

Tucked away in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx rests the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, a historic structure that serves as a window into 19th-century life in the area, when many more grand country estates dotted the then-countryside. This New York City and National Landmark, built between 1836 and 1842 on land once inhabited by the Siwanoy Indians, belonged to the Bartow and Pell families during the 19th century and was later restored by the International Garden Club, eventually opening as a museum in 1946. The stone mansion with Greek Revival interiors and accompanying terraced garden allow visitors to escape the urban landscape and peek into the city’s past.

Year-Round Features

Visitors can start off their exploration with a 45-minute guided tour of the mansion with a docent (see photo at right) who will delve into the history of the mansion and 10 of its rooms, including the decorative art and furnishings. The mansion hosts periodic lecture series and rotating exhibits that feature significant periods of the site’s history. Visitors can also explore the formal terrace garden, the Pell cemetery, and the restored, period-furnished Carriage House, which offers a glimpse into country life in the mid-19th century. And, because the mansion grounds are part of Pelham Bay Park, the site is connected to hiking trails, featuring seasonal flora, that lead visitors out to the surrounding marshlands and waterways that the Bartow family used to travel to Manhattan.