Steinway Mansion, the Hidden Hilltop Villa of Astoria
Steinway Mansion is an Italianate and Renaissance Revival villa on 41st Street in Astoria, Queens. Built in 1857–1858 as a summer home and later bought by William Steinway, it is one of the few 19th-century villas left in the borough. It is a private property, so most visitors will see it only from the street.
A 27-room Italianate villa still stands on a wooded hill in industrial Astoria. It is named for the piano dynasty, yet another family lived there for far longer than the Steinways did.
The history of Steinway Mansion, from summer villa to company-town landmark
The villa was built in 1857–1858 as a 27-room summer residence for Benjamin Pike Jr., a Manhattan maker and dealer of optical and scientific instruments. It stood on an estate of about 70 acres with a long shoreline on Long Island Sound, and its architect is unknown. Pike left a nod to his trade inside the house: the cut glass of the pocket doors shows a number of his instruments. He died in 1864, and in 1870 his widow sold the property to William Steinway of the piano company Steinway & Sons.
Steinway was worried by labor unrest in Manhattan and by the draft riots that had threatened his factory, so he expanded his holdings in Queens to about 440 acres. There he built the piano factory and Steinway Village, a company town with worker housing, a church, a library, a kindergarten and a trolley line to the rest of Queens. The eastern part of the land became North Beach Amusement Park, which in 1929 turned into North Beach Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport. A story says President Grover Cleveland slept in the house in the 1880s, but no verifiable account has been found.
In 1926 the Steinway family sold the house to Jack Halberian, an Armenian-Turkish immigrant and tailor who had first seen it from a trolley in 1914 and promised himself he would own it. Its water and electricity had come from the Steinway factory and were cut off, so he had to lay water lines and persuade Con Edison to build power lines; the cost nearly bankrupted him. During the Great Depression he turned down an offer from a Greek church leader who wanted an orphanage here, and he turned the house into a four-family home to pay for its upkeep. In 1947 the Modern Art Foundry moved into a former carriage house of the estate.
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the house a landmark in the 1960s, and it joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. After Jack Halberian died in 1976, his son Michael inherited it, restored it and filled it with historical objects: old city manuals, maps, cannons, magic lantern projectors and scientific instruments made by Pike. After Michael’s death in 2010 the house stood on the market for years, and a group of local historians and officials failed in an attempt to raise the money to buy it.
New owners bought it in 2014. Part of the surrounding land was developed into commercial warehouses, leaving the villa on a little more than a quarter acre. Its 150-year-old fabric was in poor shape, and the restoration included rebuilding the grand balcony. The house is built of granite and bluestone with cast-iron details, and its four-story tower is crowned by an octagonal cupola.
Little-known facts about Steinway Mansion
- The house is also called the Benjamin Pike Jr. House, after the instrument maker who built it, and Henry Z. Steinway, the last family president of Steinway & Sons, noted that the Halberians owned it longer than the Steinways did.
- Inside are five Italian marble fireplaces, carved walnut balustrades and a two-story domed rotunda topped by a stained-glass skylight.
- Three large underground cisterns collect rainwater from the roof, and a big copper tank in the attic once supplied the house with pressurized water.
- When Jack Halberian bought the house, the Steinway factory had been its source of water and power, so he had to connect it to the city grid himself.
- A story that Mayor Ed Koch asked to buy six old mahogany pub booths from the house for Gracie Mansion is told in the sources; the owner refused.
- A documentary called The Steinway Mansion was made in 2006, with interviews of Michael Halberian and Henry Z. Steinway.
Steinway Mansion on screen
The house has been used as a filming location for at least two productions, according to Wikipedia.
- The Pursuit of Happiness (1971) – The mansion was the filming location for the grandmother’s house.
- Evil (2019) – An interior scene of season 1, episode 6, “Let x = 9”, was filmed at the mansion.
Tours near Steinway Mansion
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Seeing Steinway Mansion: what you can and cannot do
- The villa is privately owned. It is not run as a regular museum, so do not expect to walk in; access is limited and open days or public tours, when they happen, are occasional.
- From the street you see only part of the house, because it sits on a hill and trees hide much of it. The tower and the upper floors are the easiest parts to spot.
- The mansion stands among warehouses and industrial buildings in a corner of Astoria close to LaGuardia Airport, so this is more a short architectural stop than a destination for a whole day.
- Do not enter the grounds without permission. Check the current access rules and any event or tour notices before you go.
- The Marine Air Terminal, about one kilometer away, is another historic building nearby.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Steinway Mansion is
Photos of Steinway Mansion
Where to stay near Steinway Mansion
Hotels close by, with ratings and current availability.
Astoria Inn LaGuardia hotel
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The Modernist Hotel
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Opera House Hotel
Check availability ›Hotel photos: Expedia Group. Ratings are shown as published there. Availability and conditions change; check the booking page. Affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. All hotels by borough
Questions
Can you visit Steinway Mansion?
Not as a regular attraction. It is a private property and public access has been limited to rare tours or events, so check the current rules before you go. From the street you can see part of the house.
Who built Steinway Mansion?
Benjamin Pike Jr., a Manhattan maker of scientific instruments, built it in 1857–1858 as a summer home. The architect is unknown.
Why is it called Steinway Mansion?
William Steinway of Steinway & Sons bought it in 1870 and developed the surrounding land into the piano factory and Steinway Village. The Halberian family later owned it for more than 80 years.
Where is Steinway Mansion?
At 41st Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, on a hill near the waterfront and not far from LaGuardia Airport.
Is Steinway Mansion a landmark?
Yes. It is a New York City Landmark and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
Was Steinway Mansion used in films?
According to Wikipedia, it was a filming location for the 1971 film The Pursuit of Happiness and for an interior scene of the series Evil in 2019.
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