Stone facade of the Van Cortlandt House in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx

Historic houseThe Bronx

Van Cortlandt House Museum, the Oldest House in the Bronx

The Van Cortlandt House Museum stands in the southwestern corner of Van Cortlandt Park, near Riverdale in the Bronx. Completed in 1749, this rubblestone Georgian house is the oldest known surviving house in the borough and is run today as a historic house museum. It is an easy hidden gem for anyone looking for off-the-beaten-path history away from Manhattan.

The oldest known house in the Bronx is hidden at the edge of a city park, and during the Revolutionary War both George Washington and a British general used it as headquarters. Its keystones carry carved faces of the family.

WhereThe Bronx, southwestern corner of Van Cortlandt Park, near Riverdale

TypeHistoric house museum (Georgian house of 1749)

Best forColonial and Revolutionary War history, architecture, a park walk

Getting thereOpen as a museum inside a public park; the Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street subway station is just outside the park. Check the current opening hours and access rules before you go

The history of the Van Cortlandt House in the Bronx

Before European settlement the site was Lenape land, and a village known as Keskeskick stood nearby. The Dutch settler Adriaen van der Donck bought the land in 1646. After the British took over New Netherland in 1664, the property was divided and sold, and it became part of the large Philipsburg Manor of Frederick Philipse. His daughter Eva married Jacobus Van Cortlandt, who bought parcels through 1699 and dammed Tibbetts Brook to form Van Cortlandt Lake. The family mostly lived in Manhattan and used the estate as a farm and plantation, shipping grain and timber by water.

Jacobus’s son Frederick inherited the land in 1739 and began the house in 1748. He died before it was finished, in 1749, and left it to his son James. The family’s burial ground, Vault Hill, was created that same year. Enslaved people, 11 or 12 of them according to Frederick’s bequest, worked on the property, and the 1790 census still counts 17 on the estate; slavery became illegal in New York in 1827, when those held on the estate were freed.

During the American Revolutionary War the land lay in the so-called Neutral Ground and was used by both sides. After the 1776 Battle of Long Island, George Washington used the house as his headquarters. Then, on November 13, 1776, after the Battle of White Plains, the British general William Howe made it his own. Washington returned in 1781 to plan with Rochambeau, and he is said to have lit campfires outside to make the British think his troops were still there; his army actually marched south to Yorktown. He stopped at the house once more in 1783.

The Van Cortlandt family kept the house through the 19th century, passing it down through several heirs. When New York City annexed the area in 1874 it became part of the Bronx, and under the New Parks Act of 1884 the city acquired the estate for Van Cortlandt Park; the family left in 1888. The house briefly served as a police barracks. In 1896 the Society of Colonial Dames of the State of New York leased it, and it opened to the public on May 28, 1897, as one of the first historic house museums in the city. Renovations followed in the 1960s and 1980s, and the exterior and interior are New York City landmarks and the building a National Historic Landmark.

Little-known facts about the Van Cortlandt House

The plain stone facade has one decorative touch: brick keystones above the windows carved with the faces of Van Cortlandt family members.
The original driveway was paved with stones, so the people inside could hear visitors approaching before they arrived.
The gateposts were once topped by a pair of wooden birds said to have been taken from a Spanish privateer and given to Augustus Van Cortlandt by a British admiral. They were later moved indoors.
Calling it a “manor house” is a misnomer: the Van Cortlandt Manor is actually in Croton-on-Hudson, and this house was also known as “Lower Cortlandt’s”.
In the 1890s the mansion served as barracks for the state police assigned to guard the bison that roamed Van Cortlandt Park, and the bison themselves stayed there before moving to the Bronx Zoo.
Stories say a wounded British captain named Rowe died in the house in 1780, just after his fiancée arrived, which gave rise to rumors that his ghost haunts it.

Tours near Van Cortlandt House Museum

Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:

Lower Manhattan Tour: The Remnants of Dutch New Amsterdam!

★ 4.9 (102 reviews) · 2 h

See details ›

Explore NYC- Tour of Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens & Brooklyn

★ 4.8 (20 reviews) · 5 h

See details ›

New York contrasts: Manhattan, The Bronx, Queens & Brooklyn

★ 4.4 (255 reviews) · 5 h

See details ›

City of Contrasts Tour-Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn

★ 4.6 (157 reviews) · 5 h

See details ›

Visiting the Van Cortlandt House Museum

The house is run as a museum with tours and educational programs, and it has also hosted performances and events. Check the current opening hours and how to visit before you go.
Inside, you can see the basement kitchen, the entry hall, the two parlors and the dining room on the first floor, and the bedrooms upstairs, all with Georgian-style interiors.
The house sits in a public park, surrounded by the Parade Ground, Memorial Grove, Van Cortlandt Lake and the old family burial ground; a herb garden now stands where a Dutch garden was built in the early 1900s.
The Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street subway station on Broadway is just outside the park, so the house is easy to reach without a car.
Nearby sites on this guide include Woodlawn Cemetery, the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage and the Dyckman House.

Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.

Map: where Van Cortlandt House Museum is

Photos of Van Cortlandt House Museum

South-west view of the Van Cortlandt House on a February morning

Front view of the Van Cortlandt House with its gateposts and entrance

Illustration of the Van Cortlandt House from a historic color-graph series of New York City

Historic view of the Van Cortlandt manor-house from the New York Public Library collection

Second historic view of the Van Cortlandt manor-house from the New York Public Library collection

Questions

What is the Van Cortlandt House Museum?

It is a historic house museum in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The Georgian house was completed in 1749 and is the oldest known surviving house in the borough.

Did George Washington stay at the Van Cortlandt House?

Yes. Washington used the house as headquarters after the 1776 Battle of Long Island, stayed before the Battle of White Plains, and returned in 1781 and 1783.

Who built the Van Cortlandt House?

Frederick Van Cortlandt began the house in 1748 but died before it was finished. The museum says he likely did not build it himself, and his son James inherited it.

Is the Van Cortlandt House haunted?

Stories say the ghost of a British captain named Rowe, who died in the house in 1780, haunts it, but this is only a legend.

Is the Van Cortlandt House open to the public?

It operates as a museum with tours and educational programs. Check the current opening hours and access rules before you go.

How do I get to the Van Cortlandt House Museum?

It is in the southwestern corner of Van Cortlandt Park, next to Broadway. The Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street subway station is just outside the park.