This Federal-style home served as the country residence of merchant Archibald Gracie in 1799. Since 1942, it's been the residence of New York’s mayors and their families (with the exception of Michael Bloomberg, who preferred his own plush Upper East Side apartment). The house has been added to and renovated over the years. To visit, you’ll have to reserve a spot online for one of the hour-long house tours held one day a week (less frequently during the holiday season).

The estate's 11 acres of grounds were turned into the pleasant, riverside Carl Schurz Park. It's popular with local joggers and dog owners, and its lovely promenade – which offers panoramic views of the East River, several islands and the Triborough Bridge – is one of the Upper East Side's hidden gems.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Socrates Sculpture Park

0.61 MILES

First carved out of an abandoned dump by sculptor Mark di Suvero, Socrates is now a city park on the river's edge with beautiful views and a rotating…

2. Noguchi Museum

0.68 MILES

Both the art and the context in which it's displayed here are the work of LA-born sculptor, designer and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi, famous for…

3. Guggenheim Museum

0.96 MILES

A New York icon, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, more commonly known as the Guggenheim, is an internationally-renowned art museum and one of the most…

4. Neue Galerie

0.97 MILES

This restored Carrère and Hastings mansion from 1914 is a resplendent showcase for Austrian and German art, featuring works by Paul Klee and Ernst Ludwig…

6. Jewish Museum

1 MILES

This gem occupies a French-Gothic mansion from 1908, housing 30,000 items of Judaica including torah shields and Hannukah lamps, as well as sculpture,…

7. Metropolitan Museum of Art

1.06 MILES

What started with a handful of paintings brought over from Europe or donated by a coterie of philanthropically minded robber barons in the 19th century…

8. Met Breuer

1.11 MILES

The newest branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in the landmark former Whitney Museum building (designed by Marcel Breuer; there's an…