Lefferts Historic House

infobox Museum
name= Lefferts Historic House Museum


established= 1920
location= Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York, USA
visitors=
director=
website= http://www.prospectpark.org/visit/places/lefferts

The Lefferts Historic House, located within Brooklyn's Prospect Park 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 1820s. The museum is part of the Historic House Trust [ [http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=19 Historic House Trust] ] , owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and operated by the Prospect Park Alliance.

History

Pieter Lefferts built the house in 1783 and it was located on Flatbush Avenue near Maple Street.Cite web|url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/historic_houses/hh_lefferts_homestead.html|title=Lefferts Historic House, Prospect Park|accessdate=2008-03-21|publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation] 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".cite book | title=The Social History of Flatbush: And Manners and Customs of the Dutch Settlers in Kings County| last=Lefferts Vanderbilt| first=Gertrude| date=1881| pages=391| publisher=Frederick Loeser| location=Flatbush, New York] 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 preservation. The house was moved six blocks to Prospect Park in 1918 and in 1920, the Fort Greene chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution opened the house as a museum.Cite web|url=http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=19|title=Lefferts Homestead|accessdate=2008-03-21|publisher=The Historic House Trust of New York City]

Lefferts Historic House operates a children's museum highlighting of family life in Brooklyn in the 1820s Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/arts/16fami.html?pagewanted=all|title=Another Star Vehicle Has Its Revival|accessdate=2008-03-21|year=2005-09-16|author=Laurel Graeber|work=The New York Times] including the Dutch and Native Americans who lived in the area.Cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0413,pareles,52201,15.html|title=Close-Up on Prospect-Lefferts|accessdate=2008-03-21|year=2004-03-23|author=Marissa Pareles|work=The Village Voice]

Additional tours

Every weekend, they schedule tours of the upstairs rooms. On Fathers Day and on Openhousenewyork weekend, there are additional behind the scenes tours of the attic and basement areas.

References

External links

* [http://www.prospectpark.org/visit/places/lefferts Prospect Park: Lefferts Historic House]
* [http://www.historichousetrust.org/item.php?i_id=19 Historic House Trust: Lefferts Historic House]