Roger Morris Park

Jumel Terr To Edgecombe Av, W 160 St To W 162 St

Manhattan, 10032

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

Located within Roger Morris Park, Manhattan’s oldest surviving house, Morris-Jumel Mansion, is a monument to colonial grandeur. Built in 1765 as a summer retreat for British colonel Roger Morris and his American wife Mary Philipse, this house is the only survivor of a number of similar country houses built by wealthy New Yorkers. Morris, the nephew of a successful English architect, was greatly influenced by the designs of the 16th-century Italian architect Palladio. His sophisticated residence includes a monumental portico and pediment, supported by grand Tuscan columns, and a large, two-story octagonal addition at the rear, one of the first of its kind in the country.