Category: Historic Homes of New York City

Barnegat Light Museum/The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens 501 Central Avenue Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

Barnegat Light Museum/The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens

501 Central Avenue

Barnegat Light, NJ 08006

(609) 494-8578

Open: July and August Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm/June-October 10:00am-4:00pm/Seasonal

Fee: Donation to the museum

https://barnegatlightmuseum.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46285-d8548161-Reviews-Barnegat_Light_Museum-Barnegat_Light_Long_Beach_Island_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Barnegat Light Museum at 501 Central Avenue

I was on Long Beach Island for the afternoon and had wanted to visit the Barnegat Light Museum on my last trip to the island but it was closed for the afternoon. When I checked the site to see if it was open this weekend, I found that it was and since I had to be in Beach Haven that afternoon I made it my first trip.

The Barnegat Light Museum sign in the off season.

The museum is now open ‘by appointment only’ in the off season, so I called the number provided and the President of the Museum Board opened the museum up for me and gave me a personal tour. What an interesting little museum packed with information and artifacts.

The Barnegat Light Museum main gallery

The museum is a former one room school house that was built in 1903 and used by island school children until 1954. The building still houses the original heating unit, a coal burning furnace and books of the children’s notes from school that had been handwritten (now typed) of current events and school notes.

The main gallery of the Barnegat Light Museum

The main gallery of the museum

The main attraction is the original light, a 1052 prism lens, for the Barnegat Lighthouse on display since 1927. The glass panels and sheer size and beauty of light shows how it was once the beacon for ships along the New Jersey coast. It had been brought to museum after moving around to various places over the years.

The original Barnegat Light for the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse and light display in the museum

Along the walls are all sorts of local artifacts such as dinosaur bones that had been found in the bay and donated to the museum (the president of the museum said today there are certain laws on this), local housewares from families that lived on the island and various types of fishing equipment.

Display cases filled with local fishing artifacts and net configuration for ‘Pound Fishing’

Shark Teeth, Native American Artifacts and prehistoric fossils

There is even a mini display of ‘Pound Fishing”, which is a series of poles and nets are used to catch the fisherman’s prey. This small display shows how it is constructed and used to catch the fish. There is an extensive display of Duck decoys, showing the island’s past and present as a hunting ground for water fowl. The displays come in all colors and types of ducks. There is also an interesting display of whale vertebrae and other fishing displays.

The Whale Vertebrae exhibit

There is an extensive history of the resort hotels that used to be on this part of the island that had been effected by the changing tides of the island. Like the old lighthouse and lighthouse keepers home, one of the hotels just gave way to erosion. This part of the island just keeps shifting.

The Resort and Hotels display of menus

The Resort and Hotels display-The former hotels

The Resort and Hotels display-Dishware and resort artifacts

Hotels disappeared because of shifting tides

Water sports and fishing displays

Since the building was once home to Barnegat Light’s School house, the original furnace is still in the building along with a display of items from old schools in the area.

The School gallery

The Schoolhouse Gallery

The schoolhouse furnace

The retail trade in the early part of the century leading from the old railroad track to the island was the local General Store. The railroads were a big part of the growth of this area until automobiles to the shore became the preferred mode of transportation.

The railroad display

The General Store exhibit

The General Store exhibit

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens behind the museum in all seasons:

One beautiful benefit of the museum is the beautiful gardens that surround the museum, The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens. The pathways are maintained by the Long Beach Island Garden Club. These wondering paths surround the property and especially elegant looking in the back of the building.

The Gardens from the back of the museum

The Garden plaque to Edith Duff Gwinn

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens are on the side and behind the museum

The Edith Duff Gwinn Gardens that surround the museum are maintained by the Long Beach Island Garden Club. The gardens are at their peak in the late Spring and early Summer months. The paths are filled with seasonal flowers and shrubs.

In the off season, you can visit the museum by calling ahead and you can schedule an appointment with the staff of volunteers that work at the museum.

The Gardens in the late Summer of 2024

The Beehive

The Gardens in the late Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the late Summer

The Gardens in the late summer

The Garden paths are filled with colorful flowers and plants

The back of the Gardens and the seating area

The back of the Gardens

The Gardens also looked beautiful in the late fall when I arrived for the early holiday activities in Viking Village. I was able to walk around when the museum was closed for the season.

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The Gardens during the late fall:

The gardens around Halloween time

The gardens in the Spring and Summer are quite spectacular and the volunteers do a nice job with the landscaping around the museum.

The gardens in the early Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The Gardens in the Summer of 2024

The gardens are really nice in the summer months

Both on the personal tour and when the museum is open during the summer months, the museum is a real treat both inside and out. This small museum is chock full of information not just on Barnegat Light but on the areas development for tourism and business.

It is such an interesting piece of Jersey Shore history.

The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016

The Morgan Museum & Library

225 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

(212) 685-3484

Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 10:30am-5:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $22.00/Seniors (over 65) $14.00/Current Students with ID $13.00/Free to Members and Children under 12 accompanied by a parent. Free on Friday Nights from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Discount for people with disabilities $13.00-Caregiver Free.

https://www.themorgan.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d107356-Reviews-The_Morgan_Library_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Morgan Restaurant:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d502683-Reviews-Morgan_Cafe-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

What I love about the Morgan Library & Museum is the level of sophistication and quality of their exhibitions. The museum really makes you think when you tour their galleries and attend their lectures and gallery talks. Their docents and curators bring an exhibition to a whole new level. I always feel like I am taking a college course and will be graded afterwards. They really make you think about the work or what the author or artist is trying to say.

Two of my favorite exhibitions were the “150th Anniversary Celebration of Alice in Wonderland”, which is why I joined the Morgan Library & Museum. I loved the novel and I wanted to get some ideas for our library’s own celebration. They had the original manuscript written by Lewis Carroll, some original prints and memorabilia from various times including posters, books, artwork and decorative items.

The entrance to the “Alice in Wonderland” exhibition

Another wonderful and interesting exhibition was on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” which was a celebration of her life, her works and of the novel through the ages in both context of the novel and in Hollywood. There were various copies of the books in the exhibition as well as the history of the author’s life.

The Frankenstein print

The exhibition showed the clips of the original silent version of the film, the 1931 version with Boris Karloff and the modern version “Young Frankenstein” with Gene Wilder from 1974. I learned from the exhibition that the set used in the 1974 version of the film was from the original 1931 film and it had been in the director’s basement all those years.

The entrance to “It’s Alive: Frankenstein at 200” exhibition at the museum

Another exhibition that was very interesting was the recent American artist Al Taylor with an showing of his drawings. The works were unusual but really stood out was his time in Hawaii and the drawings that inspired him.

Duck Bondage Study by Al Taylor

Untitled by Al Taylor

American artist Al Taylor

A YouTube video on the “David Hockney” Exhibition:

The recent David Hockney Exhibition that I missed.

I rejoined the museum after a long COVID absence and the first exhibition that I attended was the “Beatrix Potter” exhibition on her work on Peter Rabbit. It had many of the early drawings of her children’s books as well as some of her merchandising. The exhibition discusses her life before and after her books were published and then her second act as a farmer and conservationist.

The “Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” exhibition in April 2024:

The entrance to the gallery

The gallery opening

Here work included the initial drawings to the actual books.

The gallery of the exhibition

The exhibition is broken into two parts. The first part is on her early life in London with her family and her personal life as a child and an early adult. The second half of the exhibition is on her early books, manuscripts and letters. Then her later life as a ‘gentle farmer’ who ended up preserving and donation over 4000 acres of Lake District land for later generations to enjoy.

These are the original drawings for the book “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”

Other pieces of her works.

Some of the original drawings.

All the wonderful novelty items that she helped create. She had a real hand in merchandising way before this became the norm in publishing. She created all the cards, stuffed animals and small books that would become her collection.

The original drawing from the exhibition.

The stuffed animal of Jeremiah Puddle Duck

The sign as you enter the exhibition.

The end of the exhibition with the author holding one of her pets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter

Home

The other exhibition that I saw that day which will be closing soon is the Walton Ford exhibition. Mr. Ford’s works are a reflection on his relationship with nature with works being influenced by trips to the American Museum of Natural History. His works draw from nature.

The entrance to the exhibition

Artist Walton Ford

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_Ford

https://www.kasmingallery.com/artists/63-walton-ford/

The main gallery of Mr. Ford’s works.

The works with the Black Tiger

It is nice to walk among the permanent collection of prints in the lower level and to visit the former private areas of Mr. Morgan’s home. It adds to who he was as a financier and as a homeowner. The home was not as elaborate as you would have thought.

I also enjoy the Morgan Cafe on the main level of the museum in the courtyard area of the first floor. The food is a little pricey and a limited menu but the service is wonderful and the quality of the food is very good. You will enjoy the meal and I have heard from other patrons that the Afternoon Tea is very nice as well.

They also have a Dining Room in the Library area that I have heard is very nice as well.

They have a nice selection of books, cards and gifts in their Gift Shop just beyond The Morgan Dining Room. I really like their selections at the holidays and their theme books to the exhibitions especially for the “Alice in Wonderland” exhibition.

The Morgan Library giftshop

It is a nice place to take a gallery talk, then a light lunch in the main hall and then a lecture at night. It’s a great way to spend the day.

The History of the Morgan Library & Museum:

(from the Morgan Library & Museum website)

The Museum is a complex of buildings in the heart of New York City and began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. As early as 1890, Mr. Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary and historical manuscripts, early printed books and old master drawings and prints.

Mr. Morgan’s library was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials. Majestic in appearance yet intimate in scale, the structure was to reflect the nature and stature of its holdings.

The side view of the Morgan Library

The result was an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America’s Age of Elegance. Completed three years before McKim’s death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece. In 1924, eleven years after Mr. Morgan’s passing, his son, J.P. Morgan Jr., known as Jack, realized that the library had become too important to remain in private hands. It what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in the United States history. He fulfilled his father’s dream of making the library and its treasures available to scholars and the public alike by transforming it into a public institution.

Mr. Morgan’s private areas are part of the museum

Over the years, through purchases and generous gifts, The Morgan Library & Museum has continued to acquire rare materials as well as important music manuscripts, early children’s books, Americana and materials from the twentieth century. Without loosing its decidedly domestic feeling, the Morgan also has expanded its physical space considerably.

The Middle Eastern exhibit in the Library.

In 1928, the Annex building was erected on the corner of Madison Avenue and 36th Street, replacing Pierpont Morgan’s residence. The Annex connected to the original McKim library by means of a gallery. In 1988, Jack Morgan’s former residence, a mid-nineteenth century brownstone on Madison Avenue and 37th Street was added to the complex. The 1991 garden court was constructed as a means to unite the various elements of the Morgan campus.

JP Morgan II home which is now part of the Morgan Library.

The largest expansion in the Morgan’s history, adding 75,000 sq ft to the campus was completed in 2006. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, the project increases exhibition space by more than fifty percent and adds more important visitor amenities, including a new performance hall, a welcoming entrance on Madison Avenue, a new cafe and a new restaurant, a shop, a new reading room and collections storage. Piano’s design integrates the Morgan’s three historical buildings with three new modestly scaled steel and glass pavilions. A soaring central court connects the buildings and serves as a gathering place for visitors in the spirit of an Italian piazza.

The Morgan Library & Museum expansion by Renzo Piano

The Morgan Library & Museum Mission:

The mission of The Morgan Library & Museum is to preserve, build, study, present and interpret a collection of extraordinary quality, in order to stimulate enjoyment, excite the imagination, advance learning and nurture creativity.

The Dorothea Maria Gsell painting “Heron Encircled by a Snake with a worm in his Bill”

A global institution, focused on the European and American traditions, the Morgan houses one of the world’s foremost collections of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings and ancient and other works of art. These holdings, which represent the legacy of Pierpont Morgan and numerous later benefactors, comprise a unique and dynamic record of civilization as well as an incomparable repository of ideas and of the creative process.

(From the Morgan Library & Museum website and history)

Prospect Park Zoo 450 Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225

The Prospect Park Zoo

450 Flatbush Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11225

(718) 220-5100

https://prospectparkzoo.com/

Open: Sunday 10:00am-5:30pm/Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-5:30pm

Admission: Adults $9.95/Seniors $7.95/Children from 3-12 $6.95/Children under 3 are Free/Members Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d283820-Reviews-Prospect_Park_Zoo-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The entrance to the Prospect Park Zoo

The Prospect Park Zoo is one of my ‘go to’ places along with the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden when visiting Brooklyn. The three popular destinations are all in the same neighborhood and if you have a full day is worth the subway ride from Manhattan to visit.

On a nice day, the best place to start is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden at opening, then head over through the back part of the garden to Prospect Park and walk to the entrance near Flatbush Avenue and go past the carousel and enter the Zoo past the old Leffert’s Homestead. The Zoo is just past that.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d103505-Reviews-Lefferts_Homestead-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

My review of the Leffert’s Homestead on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/visitingamuseum.com/2864

The grounds of the Lefferts Homestead grounds

The old cart outside of the Lefferts House

The best part of the Prospect Park Zoo is that like the Central Park Zoo it is small enough to see in one day and be able to enjoy the exhibitions in one afternoon and still have time for lunch.

The Zoo has gone through a lot of improvements since COVID and reopened. There is a unique sculpture garden when you walk inside.

The Prospect Park Zoo Sculpture Garden at the entrance

Fish Sculptures at the entrance

The sculptures at the entrance of the zoo by artist Mags Harries

Artist Mags Harries

https://www.magsharries.com/maybe-home

https://smfa.tufts.edu/directory/mags-harries

Artist Mags Harries is an Wales born artist who graduated the Leicester College of Art with a Diploma in Art and Design and Illinois University, Carbondale with a Master of Fine Arts. She is known for her creative sculptures and their use in enhancing public spaces (Artist bio/Tufts.edu).

The main focus of the zoo when you walk through the gates is the seal tanks. These playful animals spend most of their time swimming around or sunning themselves on a warm day. During the feeding schedule, it is interesting to see how they interact with the trainers.

The Seal Tanks at the entrance of the Zoo

The Seal tanks when you walk in are very active

Walking further into the zoo you will walk past the Hall of Animals, where all the smaller animals and amphibians like frogs, snakes and turtles are located. These are a lot of fun for the smaller children who may not see these things in their backyards or even in the parks anymore.

The rare Longnecked Turtle in the Small Animals exhibition

The Fish tank at the Small Animals exhibition

The catfish in the Fish Tank at the Small Animals exhibition

I went to the Bird Cages and saw a Kookaburra bird from Australia. He looked at me like I looked at him. He had the most inquisitive look on his face.

The Kookaburra looking at me

The Kookaburra looking around the cage

The Victorian Pigeons with their beautiful colors and feathers

The tropical hornbill birds

As I sat down to rest after visiting both the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a peacock walked past me looking for food. It must be very used to humans because he just ignored me and kept on walking.

The peacock at the zoo just does his own thing

Beyond that is the Barn, where your horses and cows are located and they even have a pair of turkeys, which makes for interesting conversation for children who wonder where they come from at Thanksgiving. The turkeys here are more bred than the wild ones you will see in the woods. They also have sheep, pigs and lambs that you can feed.

The gardens leading to the Barn area

The gardens leading to the Barn area

The different barnyard animals were in the process of being feed and taken care of by their trainers. If you put food in front of them though, they cam running. The kids were having a ball feeding them snacks.

The Barn pens at the zoo

Lambs and calf’s in the Barnyard at the zoo

The lambs hoping they would be fed by the visitors

The friendly lamb in the pens

The sheep at the barnyard

The animal sculptures just outside the Barnyard display

Next to the Hall of Animals is the Animal Lifestyle exhibition where a lot of the gorillas and monkeys are located. It is funny to watch their mannerisms and see ourselves and out behaviors in them. I guess a couple of thousand years never really separated us that much and we still are a lot alike.

The Baboons at the Hall of Animals

From there you will take the Discovery Trail to see more familiar animals that you might see in every day nature such as deer, foxes, porcupines, ducks and geese in a more natural habitat where they can roam free. The space is limited but they look a lot happy to move around than some of the other animals.

The swans on the Discovery Trail

The swans on the trail

All trails lead back to the Seal Tanks where the popular feeding time gathers a crowd and you will see the care that many of the trainers and zoo keepers give to their residents. There is a lot of love for these animals that is given and I can see a lot of respect.

Relaxing by the Seal Tanks

I got to sit and relax by the Seal Tanks and just enjoy the afternoon. The landscaping around the main Seal Tanks were in full bloom. I also never noticed the statuary around the pool.

The landscaped stairs leading to the zoo from the main road

‘Lioness and Cubs’ by French sculptor Victor Peter

https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/zoos/prospect-park

Artist Victor Peter

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/208856

Artist Victor Peter is a French born artist known for his realistic sculptures.

A trip to the snack shop and gift shops at the zoo are expensive and cater to the tourists. They are not as nicely merchandised as the Bronx Zoo or the Central Park Zoo. Still they are fun to visit once or twice.

The Prospect Park Zoo is still a nice afternoon out for families and a nice way to communicate with nature.

The History of the Prospect Park Zoo:

The Prospect Park Zoo is a 12 acre zoo located in Prospect Park, Brooklyn and as of 2016 houses 864 animals. The zoo was originally part of the plan of Prospect Park as a “Zoological Garden” in the western part of the park. The zoo was not part of the finished plan in the park in 1874 by designers Fredrick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

The park design included a Wild Fowl Pond in the northern part of the park that was stop off for water birds and a Deer Paddock in the southern part of the zoo where deer lived in a penned area.

In the 1890’s, gardens were created for park enjoyment and a informal Menagerie was created by the Brooklyn Parks Commission, George V. Brower, when the donation of small bear, white deer, seven seals, a cow and twelve peacocks came into the possession of the park.

In 1934, Parks Department head Robert Moses set a plan to reconstruct the City’s Parks and under the Works Progress Administration started to revamp the park system. In March of that year architect Aymar Embury II set to design the new zoo with six new buildings and centered by a Seal Pool.

By the 1970’s, the zoo faced disrepair and was neglect for the animals. It was considered one of the worst zoo’s in the country according to the press and finally in 1980, the Koch Administration signed a 50 year agreement with the NY Zoological Society, now called the Wildlife Conservation Society, which was also administrating the Central Park and Queens Zoo.

The park closed in 1988 for a five year, 37 million dollar renovation that gutted all the pits and cages but saved the historic buildings and statuary. The new zoo opened in 1993 with a new name, “The Prospect Park Wildlife Conservation Center” and a philosophy of educating children. The zoo along with the Queens Zoo have had some shortfalls in the past but have the full support of the Society and the public since the early 2000’s. Still the zoo remains popular with families from all over Brooklyn and the world.

The main view of the zoo

(This information is provided by Wiki and the Wildlife Conservatory website and I give them both full credit for the information)

Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House 47-49 East 65th Street New York, NY 10065

Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House

47-49 East 65th Street

New York, NY 10065

(212) 650-3174

Roosevelt House History

Sara Delano Roosevelt Library

Open: To Groups on Fridays and Saturdays and to individuals on Saturdays 10:00am/12:00pm/2:00pm

Fee: Free to Individuals/Donations welcome-Groups tours are $100.00 for up to five people with an additional $15.00 fee per person. There is also an administration fee of $25.00 for groups over 20 people.

The Sara Delano Roosevelt Home at 47-49 East 65th Street

It is amazing what you discover when you are walking around the Upper East Side of Manhattan. I was exploring the Streets of the Upper East Side for my blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan’ and when walking around the Hunter College Campus came across the Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House at 47-49 East 65th Street.

This beautiful brownstone was built as a wedding present to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor and their future family by his mother Sara Delano Roosevelt. It was their New York City residence until they moved to the White House. His mother continued to use the house until her death in 1941 when the home was sold to Hunter College.

Tours are available when the building is open (Hunter College is currently closed) and you can tour the whole house. The home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

History of the Sara Delano Roosevelt Memorial House:

The Neo-Georgian townhouse was designed by architect Charles A. Platt for Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt in 1907. It originally held “two mirror-image residences with a single facade and entrance. Each floor had its own front reception room with a welcoming fireplace. Rear parlous could be combined through sliding doors

The mansion at 47-49 East 65th Street on the Upper East Side

The house was given to the Roosevelt’s by Franklin’s mother as a wedding gift for them. The house originally two homes and Franklin’s mother had doors put in place so she could enter their part of the home whenever she wanted. The house was used by Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt from its completion in 1908 to her death in 1941 and intermittently by the Roosevelts until the sale to Hunter College in 1943.

The house historical marker

After his mother’s death in 1941, President Roosevelt and his wife placed the house up for sale and a non-profit consortium was organized to purchase the house on behalf of Hunter College.

The Extended Roosevelt family

The house was closed in 1992 and reopened in 2010 after an $18 million renovation. Leslie E Robertson Associates was the structural engineers on this renovation. The building is currently used by Hunter College as the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College or just known as the Roosevelt House.

The inside of the house’s museum

(Disclaimer: This information was from Wiki and I give them full credit for the History of the Roosevelt House).

Video’s Related to the House on YouTube:

Visiting the Roosevelt House:

The History of the House:

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