- Hamilton Grange is the historic former home of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
- Located in Upper Manhattan, the home has been moved twice as New York City built up around it.
- The success of the "Hamilton" musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda tripled visitorship to the site.
The former home of America's first treasury secretary was once a sleepy historic site in Upper Manhattan that received around a dozen visitors per day.
Then came a little musical called "Hamilton."
Written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda in the original Broadway cast, the show chronicles Alexander Hamilton's rise from impoverished orphan to Founding Father through rap and hip-hop. It became a cultural phenomenon as one of the most successful musicals of all time, winning 11 Tony Awards in 2016 and grossing a total of over $1 billion, Broadway News reported.
Miranda, a longtime resident of Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, visited Hamilton's home while writing the show to draw inspiration for the titular character. When "Hamilton" moved to Broadway in 2015, visitorship to the site, known as Hamilton Grange, tripled overnight, supervisory park ranger Callie Tominsky told Business Insider. Tour buses would pull up and create lines around the block as fans of the show waited to enter the small visitors center managed by the National Park Service and tour the 2,700-square-foot home.
"Hamilton" marked its 10-year anniversary on Broadway with a performance by the original cast at the 2025 Tony Awards. Even a decade later, Tominsky says visitorship at Hamilton Grange remains high.
"This is the only monument to Hamilton in the country," Tominsky said. "He does not have a Washington Monument. He does not have a Jefferson Memorial. He doesn't have any of that, but he has his humble home in Upper Manhattan on the same plot of land that he fell in love with over 200 years ago."
I visited Hamilton Grange in June to explore the historic site. Take a look inside.
Representatives for Miranda did not respond to a request for comment.
Hamilton Grange is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood in northern Manhattan.
Measuring approximately 2,700 square feet, Hamilton Grange was designed by architect John McComb and largely completed in 1802. Hamilton only lived in the home for two years before he was killed in a duel with rival Aaron Burr in 1804, but his wife, Eliza Hamilton, lived there for another 30 years.
Burr later spent time living nearby at Morris-Jumel Mansion at what is now 162nd Street.
Hamilton's home was moved twice before arriving at its permanent location in St. Nicholas Park.
Hamilton Grange was originally situated on 32 acres of land near what is now 143rd Street in Harlem. The 300-ton home was lifted off its foundation and moved twice as part of preservation efforts.
The first move was in 1889, when it was placed on a platform and hauled by horses to prevent it from being demolished as Manhattan's street grid expanded.
The Grange was moved for the second and final time in 2008, when hydraulic jacks lifted the home 38 feet in the air to extricate it from between a church and an apartment building.
"People take for granted that this exists, but it really was years and even lifetimes of collaborative effort that kept the house here and available for people," Tominsky told BI.
The National Park Service operates the historic site and leads tours of Hamilton Grange.
Hamilton Grange is open Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free, and tours are first-come, first-served. The full tour schedule can be found on the National Park Service's website.
The lower floor of Hamilton Grange functions as a visitor center with a museum and gift shop.
Admission to the museum exhibits on the lower floor doesn't require a guided tour or reservation.
The gift shop sells souvenirs featuring nods to the Broadway musical "Hamilton."
"It's Quiet Uptown," a song from the musical's second act, chronicles Alexander and Eliza Hamilton's move to the Grange while grieving the death of their son Phillip.
The gift shop also features a glimpse at the home's "scratch coat," or base layer of plaster.
The "scratch coat" of plaster is scored to help additional layers of plaster stick to it.
The restored upper floor of Hamilton Grange is accessible through a narrow, winding staircase once used by staff.
The visitor center on the lower floor was once the location of the kitchen and staff quarters.
Upstairs, the first stop on my tour was the foyer, where Hamilton greeted important guests when they walked through the front door.
Hamilton Grange was built in the Federalist style with columns and tall, open ceilings, a departure from tighter, boxier Colonial-style architecture.
A copy of a full-length portrait of Hamilton, originally painted by John Trumbull in 1792, hung on one of the walls.
In the portrait, Hamilton is shown holding a quill, symbolizing his influential writings that helped shape America's political and financial system such as the Federalist Papers.
The foyer also displayed a replica of a marble bust of Hamilton carved by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi.
Ceracchi's bust was intended to be part of a larger monument depicting Hamilton among other Founding Fathers, but Congress decided not to fund it. Hamilton then purchased the bust from Ceracchi in 1796.
The bust was displayed at Hamilton's actual height of 5 feet 7 inches, so I stood next to it to compare my stature with his.
I'm pretty short, so my eye level would have reached Hamilton's chin if we'd met face-to-face.
Looking out the windows in the foyer, I was struck by the historic home's proximity to the modern streets of New York City.
In Hamilton's time, the Grange featured clear views of the Harlem and Hudson Rivers and the shores of New Jersey. Today, high-rise apartments and office buildings dot the streets outside.
Next, the tour proceeded to the dining room, where Hamilton hosted guests at dinner parties.
The two bottom window panels opened all the way up to create doorways leading onto the balcony.
Mirrored doors across from the windows helped reflect more light to brighten the space.
The octagonal shape of the room also helped maximize natural light.
The table was set with replicas of Hamilton's dining chairs, the originals of which are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.
Much of the room was staged with reproductions of Hamilton's possessions, such as a replica of a wine cooler gifted to him by George Washington.
Many of Hamilton's possessions were sold in auctions after his death and bought by private collectors. The original wine cooler sold for $782,500 at a Christie's auction in 2012.
National Park ranger and tour guide Tom Ward said that original items from the home are often sold at prices "well past our operational budget."
"The only way we're really able to get our hands on these kinds of artifacts is through donation," he said.
One original item remaining from Hamilton's time was a silver candle tray on the dining room table.
The silver tray reflected light from the lit candles, creating a glittering ambience at Hamilton's dinner parties.
Hamilton and his family also entertained visitors in the parlor.
Five of the Louis XVI-style chairs in the parlor are original to the home, and five are reproductions. The secret to determining which is which, Ward told our group, is underneath the chairs. The originals feature burlap upholstery beneath the cushions, while the replicas were upholstered with white nylon mesh.
The portrait of George Washington on display at the Grange is a copy, but Hamilton had the original 1797 work by Gilbert Stuart, now housed at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
One of the Grange's most notable original artifacts is the pianoforte gifted by Hamilton's sister-in-law, Angelica Schuyler Church.
Church purchased the piano in London in 1795. Hamilton was a skilled player, as was his daughter, Angelica Hamilton. The two would often play tunes together.
"This piano, for me, is a symbol for the family ties of the Hamiltons," Tominsky said. "When you think about Hamilton, you think about this political juggernaut who was making huge impacts on the formation of the country. But then this piano reminds us that he was also a family man."
The green walls of Hamilton's study inspired the color of Hamilton's costume in the Broadway musical.
In the PBS documentary "Hamilton's America," costume designer Paul Tazewell said that Lin-Manuel Miranda requested a green outfit for the character of Hamilton after visiting the Grange and seeing the color of the walls in his study.
The study featured a replica of Hamilton's Federal-style desk.
Miranda also sat at Hamilton's desk for further inspiration while writing the musical, according to "Hamilton's America."
Hamilton also had a traveling desk that went with him on trips.
A replica is displayed at Hamilton Grange, while the original desk is housed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Books that belonged to Hamilton sat on a table in the study.
The books contain Hamilton's signature.
A map from 1776 hanging in the study showed just how small New York City was at the time.
The entire city of New York was concentrated in what is now the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. What is now Upper Manhattan was mostly farmland and forest.
Two unrestored back rooms, which served as guest quarters, included additional exhibits about the history of Hamilton Grange.
The displays showed original artifacts such as keys, locks, and screws from the home that helped preservationists learn more about how it was constructed.
On the outside, much of the siding is still original, though some pieces have been replaced.
With hot summers, cold winters, frequent rain, air pollution, and constant construction, preserving a historic home in Manhattan can be a challenging endeavor.
Hamilton Grange remains a fascinating site for history buffs and musical theater fans alike.
Tominsky said that visitors occasionally burst into songs from the "Hamilton" musical while touring the Grange. Park rangers have been known to sing along.
"We're all big fans of it too," she said.
