Gracie Mansion Mr
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GracieA Student Mansion Guide to the People’s House Mayor Bill de Blasio Collection of the New-York Historical Society (1958.35). Collection of the New-York Before Gracie Mansion Mr. Gracie builds his house he land on which Gracie Mansion fter the American Revolution, the Walton stands was originally the site of family sold the property where Belview T Belview, the Manhattan home A once stood to Archibald Gracie, a successful of British Loyalist Jacob Walton. Belview Scottish-born shipping merchant. The Gracie family was built in 1770, five years before the lived in New York City, but also American Revolution began, when New Detail from a drawing of the Walton house, dated 1774. wanted a country home. In 1799, York was still a British colony. Today, Gracie built a wood-frame house Why did the American rebels want to seize the the land is part of New York City, but in Walton house at the beginning of the American on the land. His new home, Gracie Walton’s time it was five miles away from Revolution? (HINT: Please see the map on the Mansion, was part of a group of similar the city, surrounded by farmland, trees, and next to last page.) country homes Above, Mrs. Archibald Gracie (Esther Rogers), illustration water. Cars and trains had not yet been invented, so the only way to reach Belview was by boat! from 1925 based on an earlier miniature. along the shoreline Above right, Archibald Gracie, miniature by an unidentified At the start of the American Revolution, American rebels seized Walton’s house. Walton Historical Society (58433). Collection of the New-York artist, circa 1795-1800. of the East River. and his family escaped to Queens by boat, and George Washington’s troops turned the There were still no cars or trains, and property into a colonial fortification. The Walton home was destroyed by the British dur- no roads connected Gracie Mansion’s ing the war. country location with the city. By boat, the Gracies’ trip from Imagine a battle scene from the their city home downtown to their country home could take American Revolution What do archaeologists hours! annonballs like this one bombarded the do? How does Walton house in September of 1776 and their work Gracie lived and worked in New help us to York City. Why would he want to destroyed it. This cannonball is made of iron, understand the This British cannonball, C build a country home five miles excavated from the and although not much larger than a baseball, weighs past? away? land surrounding Gracie Mansion, dates more than 12 pounds! It was found while archaeolo- from the time of the American Revolution. gists were excavating the grounds of Gracie Mansion in the 1980s. The country home of Archibald Gracie by an unidentified artist, circa 1810. The Gracie house grows Lights glitter at Gracie Mansion William Waldron William r. and Mrs. otice the sparkling crystals on Gracie the chandeliers in almost all of the M had eight Nrooms at Gracie Mansion. Glass children and needed to was very costly and indicated a family’s expand their home. The wealth during Gracie’s time, and it also Foyer (front hall) was served a very useful purpose. People liked constructed in 1810 and their homes to have brightly colored, light- at the same time a large filled rooms, but there was no electric light parlor was added to the at the time. house. The enlarged They therefore home provided more needed to find room for the family to other ways to entertain important The Foyer of Gracie Mansion. bring light into friends like Alexander Why would a compass their homes. Hamilton, the first Sec- be used to symbolize The glass of retary of the Treasury, shipping? the chande- and Washington Irving, What are some other liers picks up author of The Legend of examples of trompe bright colors Chandelier in Gracie Mansion’s Patent-Yellow Parlor. Sleepy Hollow. l’oeil painting at Gracie and bounces Mansion? Why would you The chandelier in Gracie Mansion’s Ballroom being cleaned. light into a Throughout Gracie Mansion chandeliers are want to paint something to hung in front of mirrors and near fireplaces. look like something else? Special artists have Detail of the compass rose painted on the Foyer room from all angles. Today, specialists Why have they been placed this way? painted a large compass floor. clean these chandeliers by hand, making (HINT: People liked their homes to be as bright rose in the center of the Foyer floor representing Gracie’s success as a shipping merchant. sure that each prism on every chandelier as possible.) The wooden floor is painted to look like marble using a technique known as trompe l’oeil, maintains the brilliance it would have had French for “trick the eye.” when the Gracies lived in the house. Mirror, mirror on the wall Make yourself comfortable onvex mirrors seem to pop out of their frames. n the early nineteenth century, a fireplace provided When you look into one, your face appears warmth and enough light to read or sew. Did you C distorted. You probably wouldn’t use a Inotice that there is a fireplace in every room of convex mirror to see how you looked before Gracie Mansion? Around each fireplace is a mantel, going out! This type of mirror was popular in decorated with trim and molding. Details often Gracie’s time because it is perfect for picking used on mantels included urns and oval sunbursts, as up light from the parts of the room not di- well as wheat, garlands, and pineapples – symbols of rectly in front of it. The mirror then reflects abundance, wealth, and hospitality. William Waldron William the hundreds of sparkles of light it captures The fireplace in Gracie Mansion’s Ballroom. back into the room. The early nineteenth century was The American eagle at the known as the Federal Period. top of the mirror is an emblem The architecture of the United States. and home Convex mirror in Gracie Mansion’s Ballroom. furnishings of that Hear the chimes time had symmetry The eagle is shown removing a ball with balanced and chain. What could this symbolize? ocated in the Foyer of proportions. At Gracie Mansion, this tall case Gracie Mansion, L clock, also known as a grandfather clock, was built by a New York all mantels display clockmaker around 1800, long before wristwatches The painting above the mantel in Gracie Mansion’s Library is Summer’s Day Why is the location objects arranged by Maurice Brazil Prendergast, 1916-18, in the collection of the of a grandfather were invented. Unlike most clocks today, it chimes on with perfect Whitney Museum of American Art (77.1.43). clock in a house so the hour and needs to be wound with a special key important? balance. Find as many examples of symmetry and balance as you can. once each week. What might this symmetrical style tell us about how the new A small statue of George Washington on the Tall case clock in Gracie Mansion’s Foyer. mantel shelf in Gracie Mansion’s Library. United States of America wished to be seen? The French connection From family home to William Waldron William ave you ever used stamp museum printing to make a wo other nineteenth-century families H picture? The wallpaper made Gracie Mansion their home, in Gracie Mansion’s Dining T but in 1896 New York City became the Room was made in France in the owner of the house. It is hard to imagine that 1830s using carved wood blocks In what ways Gracie Mansion was used The Foyer of Gracie Mansion in the 1920s, when it was the first that were coated with paint and does the Foyer for storage for the neigh- home of the Museum of the City of New York. stamped onto the paper; it looks look different in this picture from boring park, and even as an ice cream stand! In 1923, Gracie Mansion like a continuous painting of a the way the room became the first home of the Museum of the City of New York. After the garden without a frame. looked during museum moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue, Gracie Mansion your tour? Archibald Gracie, like many suc- was renovated and prepared for a well-known New Yorker to move in. cessful shipping merchants of his A mayor comes to Gracie Mansion time, traveled to France for busi- Gracie Mansion’s historic Dining Room. ness and pleasure. The Dining Room wallpaper is a fitting decoration n 1942, Gracie Mansion became the for Gracie Mansion because of Gracie’s travels and also because France Have financial official residence of the Mayor of the was an important ally of the Americans during the Revolution. problems City of New York. Mayor Fiorello H. like Gracie’s I occurred during La Guardia moved into the house with The Gracies move other times his family and was the first mayor to live at in American rchibald Gracie’s history? Gracie Mansion. New York City became shipping business made the very first city in the United States that A him one of the richest had a special home for its mayor. men in New York. However, the politics of the time What might you learn about Mayor La Guardia caused his business to fail, and in 1823 he was forced from this portrait? Can you think of any landmarks A portrait of Mayor La Guardia at his desk at City Hall by Samuel in New York City named for Mayor La Guardia? Cork Pilot by an unidentified artist, circa 1830.