And is home to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
The Andrew Carnegie Mansion is a historical spot located at 2 E. 91st Street in the Upper East Side. The mansion was originally completed in 1902 and reached landmark status in 1974. It has undergone much change over the years and is now functioning as the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
With 64 rooms, this spacious and luxurious estate was first constructed for Andrew Carnegie and his wife, Louise Whitfield Carnegie, to raise their daughter Margaret.
It was designed by architectural firm Babb, Cook & Willard with the style of an English Georgian country home.
According to Copper Hewitt Museum, “It was the first private residence in the United States to have a structural steel frame and one of the first in New York to have a residential Otis passenger elevator (now in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC).”
When the decision was first made to transform the mansion into a museum, Cooper Hewitt made sure to embrace the original character and grandeur of the building. The museum’s total exhibition space was increased by approximately 7,000 square feet with updates to signage, lighting, and public access.
The grounds of the mansion, and now museum, feature an expansive garden and cafe for visitors to enjoy as well as a little opulent oasis in the middle of Manhattan. Though the Cooper Hewitt Museum is still temporarily closed this will be the perfect spot to visit when the museum reopens.
See more with a digital version of the mansion here.
featured image source: Instagram/ @gothamfairytales