Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue

See the great mansions of the Upper East Side that represent Gilded Age New York City.

(Best suited for adults and most people over 12 years old.)

Private Group: Please contact us for pricing and availability

Duration

2 hours

(Walking tour around Upper East Side)

About

The tour starts at the Richard Morris Hunt Memorial statue located on the west side of Fifth Avenue (between East 70th & 71st Streets) and ends at the Cooper-Hewitt (2 East 91th Street), the former home of Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).

The term “Gilded Age” is used to refer to the period of booming economic growth in the USA in the second half of the 19th century. In New York City this is the period when robber barons like Frick and Carnegie built some of the most extravagant urban palaces the city has ever seen.

Beaux-Arts was the dominant style of architecture in this period, as the greatest American architects from Richard Morris Hunt to Stanford White to C.P.H Gilbert all studied abroad in Paris. These three architects and many others created French châteaux, Italian palazzi, Gothic castles, and Neoclassical mansions in the heart of New York City, and helped give Fifth Avenue along Central Park the cachet it still holds today, as one of the most famous residential neighborhoods in the city.

Bowery Boys Walks guides Emma Guest-Consales, Ph.D., and Billy Nemec take turns leading this tour for a stroll up the avenue to visit the grand residences, to see their interiors, and to hear stories of their designers and owners.

Please Note

Tours take place rain or shine ​— dress for the weather!

We can't wait to share New York's history with you!

Thank you for booking our Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue Tour. This is a walking tour that takes you through the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It begins at East 70th Street & Fifth Avenue at the Richard Morris Hunt Memorial (on the Central Park side), where you will meet your guide.

• The tour is about 2 hours and is about one mile long
• Please **dress for the weather**, as our walking tours are conducted rain or shine. After all, New York doesn’t stop for the weather!
• Please arrive **5 minutes early!**
• The guide will be at the starting point for at least 10 minutes if you are running late
• Please note that tips for the guides are always appreciated

Thanks again, and see you soon!

Photo of the starting point:

!Description of image