Lefferts Historic House

The Lefferts Historic House is located within Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York City. It is the former home of Continental Army Lieutenant Pieter Lefferts built circa 1783. It currently operates as a museum of family life in Brooklyn in the 19th century. The museum is part of the Historic House Trust,[1] owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and operated by the Prospect Park Alliance. It is a New York City designated landmark.

Lefferts Historic House Museum
Established1783
LocationProspect Park, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Coordinates
Websitewww.prospectpark.org/visit-the-park/places-to-go/lefferts-historic-house/

History

Pieter Lefferts built the house in 1783 and it was located on Flatbush Avenue near Maple Street.[2] Upon Pieter's death, the house passed to his son John, and then John's daughter Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, who wrote about her family, her community and the house in her 1881 book, The Social History of Flatbush.[3] The house remained in the Lefferts family for at least four generations.

Development was threatening Brooklyn's rural setting by the end of the 19th Century and in 1917, John Lefferts' estate offered the family's home to the City of New York with the condition that the house be moved onto city property as a means of protection and historic preservation. The house was moved six blocks to Prospect Park[2] in 1918 and in 1920, the Fort Greene chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution opened the house as a museum.[4]

Lefferts Historic House operates a children's museum highlighting of family life in Brooklyn in the 19th century[5] including the Dutch and Native Americans who lived in the area.[6]

Additional tours

Every weekend, there are tours of the upstairs rooms. On Father's Day and on Openhousenewyork weekend, there are additional behind the scenes tours of the attic and basement areas.

See also

References
  1. "The Historic House Trust of New York City :: Lefferts Homestead". historichousetrust.org. 2015-05-04. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04.
  2. "Prospect Park Historic Houses : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. Lefferts Vanderbilt, Gertrude (1881). The Social History of Flatbush: And Manners and Customs of the Dutch Settlers in Kings County. Flatbush, New York: Frederick Loeser. p. 391.
  4. "Lefferts Homestead". The Historic House Trust of New York City. Archived from the original on 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  5. Laurel Graeber (2005-09-16). "Another Star Vehicle Has Its Revival". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  6. Marissa Pareles (2004-03-23). "Close-Up on Prospect-Lefferts". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-03-21.


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