Miracle on Fourth Street: Saving an Old Merchant’s House

Miracle on Fourth Street is the story of the preservation of a family home that belonged to one of the early merchants of New York City. Lived in by one family for almost 100 years, the house was preserved as a museum upon the death of the last family member. The book recounts the struggle of the founder of the museum to realize his quixotic vi- sion, the critical intervention of an architect who devoted his life to an authentic struc- tural restoration, and the dedication of a group of women who would not give up their goal of reclaiming the beauty of the original furnishings. It is a story of creative solutions to structural calamities, heartbreaking setbacks, dis- appointing personality conflicts, and the current stewards’ triumph over a final brutal assault on the building that quite literally could have brought the house down. Now known as the Merchant’s House Museum, the landmarked site affords over 15,000 visitors a year a unique window into mid-nineteenth domestic life of the merchant elite of New York City.