Geoffrey from New York

About me I travel to discover how people elsewhere live, how they manage living with low incomes in expensive cities, how they grapple with hard times and failing economies, how they deal with ageing or crumbling families and how they themselves age and adapt. Knowing and loving New York comes from having lived through many of its manifestations while witnessing its changes....

Oct 4, 2025

Sylvan Terrace/Jumel Mansion New York

Sugar Hill

"A visit to "Sylvan Terrace/Jumel Mansion" in Sugar Hill, New York should be combined with some exploration in the surrounding neighborhood..."

I don't see a particular reason to visit Sugar Hill's Jumel Mansion for itself alone, but as part of a visit to the neighborhood, it makes sense to drop in. This is American History territory.

A few reasons:

• across the street, in a brownstone, is Word, a most unusual bookstore;

• 555 Edgecombe, with its Tiffany stained glass-ceilinged lobby and former home to Paul Robeson, Joe Louis, and current resident Marjorie Eliot whose Sunday jazz parlour concerts are famous;

• the view from Edgecombe overlooking Rucker Park, the East River and The Bronx;

• to the west leads the mansion's former cobblestoned carriageway, now named Sylvan Terrace (pictured), lined on both sides with a complete matching set of about twenty 19th century wood frame houses. This is high end, walking tour territory.

• beyond the terrace to the west, down several steps breaking through an old stone wall to Amsterdam Avenue is the gateway to the rambunctious, sprawling, so-alive Dominican community of Washington Heights, full of bodegas, barbershops, tiny restaurants, and people, everywhere. Hot summer nights cause a crowded, hang-out scene of people smoking hookahs, watching TV through shop windows, eating homemade and carryout dinners. It is also Chopped Cheese sandwich territory.

A friend lives in Sylvan Terrace. We both realize she is part of its gentrification. It's difficult to say how long gentrification will go on; one can only hope it will take a long, long time.

Take the C Train to 163rd Street.

Art & culture

Relaxing

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About this spot

Jumel Terrace 65

Adult admission:

US$

Website

2129238008

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