| Alexander Macomb House | |
|---|---|
%2c_Broadway%2c_New_York.jpg) Second Presidential Mansion (the 4-bay house behind the coach), occupied byGeorge Washington from February to August 1790 | |
 Interactive map of Alexander Macomb House | |
| Former names | Mansion House Hotel Bunker's Mansion House Hotel |
| General information | |
| Location | 39-41 Broadway,Lower Manhattan,New York City, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°42′23″N74°00′48″W / 40.7063°N 74.0132°W /40.7063; -74.0132 |
| Construction started | 1786–1788 |
| Demolished | 1940 |
| Client | Alexander Macomb |
TheAlexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway inLower Manhattan, New York City, served as the second U.S. Presidential Mansion. PresidentGeorge Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term as national capital. The house was the last surviving former U.S. presidential mansion, until it was demolished in 1940.
Alexander Macomb (1748–1831) was an Irish-born American merchant and land speculator. He built the four-story city house on the west side of Broadway in 1786–1788. Macomb leased it to the FrenchMinister Plenipotentiary, theComte de Moustier, who occupied it until his return toParis in early 1790.
It was one of a block of three houses erected in 1787 and was four stories and an attic high, with a width of fifty-six feet. From the rear of the main rooms glass doors opened onto a balcony giving an uninterrupted view of the Hudson River. On entering, one found a large hall with a continuous flight of stairs to the top of the house. On each side of the hall were spacious, high-ceilinged rooms, used for the levees and dinners and always referred to by Washington as "public rooms."[1]
President Washington purchased furniture, mirrors and draperies from the departing Minister with his own money, including American-made furniture in the French style. Some of these items survive atMount Vernon and elsewhere.[2]
_-_Daniel_Huntington_-_overall.jpg)
The first Presidential Mansion was theSamuel Osgood House at 1 Cherry Street[3] inManhattan, which Washington occupied from April 23, 1789, to February 23, 1790. He had been living there a week prior to his April 30, 1789, inauguration as firstPresident of the United States. The Osgood House (demolished 1856) was in the most congested part of Manhattan, near the port along theEast River, and Washington found it cramped for his presidential household.
The Macomb House was significantly larger, located in a neighborhood just north of theBowling Green.
The presidential household functioned with a staff of about 20, composed of wage workers, indentured servants and enslaved servants. Slavery was legal in New York, and Washington brought 7 enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon to work in his presidential household:William Lee,Christopher Sheels, Giles, Paris, Austin, Moll, andOney Judge.[4]
Under the July 1790Residence Act, the national capital moved toPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, for a 10-year period while the permanent national capital was under construction in theDistrict of Columbia. Washington vacated the Macomb House on August 30, 1790, and returned to Mount Vernon, stopping in Philadelphia to examine what was to become the third Presidential Mansion, theMasters–Penn–Morris House at 190 High Street.
In 1821, the Macomb House was converted into a luxury hotel. The hotel was expanded northward into the adjoining houses, and their facades were altered to give a unified appearance.
Bunker's Mansion House, a famous hotel, was situated at No. 39 Broadway, and was a large double-brick house, erected in 1786 by General Alexander Macomb as a residence for himself. It was a most comfortable and well-conducted hotel, and was patronized largely by Southern families. Bunker, who was noted for his affability to his customers, grew rich rapidly, and eventually sold the property and retired from business.[5]
In 1861,Daniel Huntington painted a fanciful depiction of the interior. "Mr. Huntington has in his famous painting of the Republican Court made the Macomb home on Broadway the background of his picture. This was a much more commodious house, to which the President and his family removed in the spring of 1790."[6]
In 1939, theDaughters of the Revolution erected a bronze plaque at 39 Broadway.[7] The Macomb House was demolished in 1940.[8]
Media related toAlexander Macomb House at Wikimedia Commons
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