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OLD MERCHANTS HOUSE OF NEW YORK INC
NEW YORK, NY · EIN 237186077 · Form 990 · FY2024 · NTEE A54 · Arts, Culture & Humanities · Small ($100K-$1M) · merchantshouse.org
revenue
$992K
expenses
$922K
net assets
$4.4M
employees
2
program ratio
71%
mission · from form 990

PRESERVATION AND OPERATION OF THE MERCHANTS HOUSE MUSEUM.

profile · synthesized from sources

The Merchant's House Museum preserves and operates a historic 19th-century family home in New York City as a museum. It interprets the lives of the Tredwell family and domestic staff, while also uncovering and presenting the broader historical context of the site, including its connection to the 17th-century free Black settlement known as "The Land of the Blacks." The organization offers educational programs and public exhibitions focused on New York City history, slavery, and emancipation.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2020

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $356K
named programs · 3 · from sources

What they call their work

Education Programs
Public programs and virtual presentations on New York City history, including Black life in New Amsterdam and the history of slavery and emancipation.
Historic House Tours
Guided and self-guided tours of the 1832 Merchant's House Museum, a preserved 19th-century family home.
Manuel Plaza Commemoration
Public space and interpretive programming honoring the 17th-century free Black settlement known as “The Land of the Blacks” adjacent to the museum.
activities · 7 groups

What they do

  • Museum and Historical Gift Shops 2 activities
    • Gift shop and visitor services operations
      Operates weekday admissions and a gift shop that sells merchandise and accepts donations of new or gently used small items for resale. Staff collect fees, introduce self-guided tours, and support events such as lectures, concerts, garden weddings, and fundraisers with logistical and hospitality assistance.
    • Publication and sale of historical materials
      Sells a booklet titled 'Some Say They Never Left,' featuring collected ghost stories from the Merchant's House Museum, and supports documentation of its collection through contributions to national projects like the Index of American Design.
  • Historic Site Designation Advocacy 1 activity
    • Advocacy to protect the museum from adjacent development
      Actively opposes construction projects adjacent to the museum, particularly at 27 East 4th Street since 2012, through legal and engineering efforts exceeding $1 million. Organizes testimony at Landmarks Preservation Commission hearings and advocates for the City of New York to uphold its responsibility to protect the museum as a city-owned landmark.
  • Arts and Cultural Workforce Training 1 activity
    • Capacity building through academic internships
      Provides semester-based academic internships in fields including education, decorative arts, collections care, historic preservation, and museum administration to train emerging professionals in museum operations and stewardship.
  • Historical Cemetery and Museum Ghost Tours 1 activity
    • Ghost tours and paranormal programming
      Offers candlelight ghost tours, including 50-minute standard tours and 90-minute Super Spooky tours led by paranormal investigator Dan Sturges. Also provides private ghost tours for up to 20 people and produces a monthly video podcast titled 'In the Spirit of Science' discussing paranormal research at the museum.
  • Local History Museum Operations 1 activity
    • Preservation and operation of the Merchant's House Museum
      Preserves, restores, and operates the 1832 Merchant’s House as a historic house museum, including structural restoration, conservation of over 4,500 original artifacts, and maintenance of the finest surviving ornamental plasterwork from the period. The museum is the only intact 19th-century family home in New York City open to the public.
  • Historic Site Public Programming 1 activity
    • Public education and interpretive programming
      Offers guided and self-guided tours, educational programs for adults and schoolchildren, lectures, and exhibitions focused on 19th-century New York City life, the abolition movement, the Underground Railroad, and the domestic history of the Tredwell family. Programs include weekday group tours by appointment and interpretive experiences in period rooms.
  • Historical and Genealogical Research 1 activity
    • Research on the Underground Railroad and 19th-century history
      Conducted multi-year research confirming the 1832 Merchant’s House was constructed with a secret passageway designed by abolitionist Joseph Brewster to harbor freedom-seekers as part of the Underground Railroad. This research led to the identification of the site as the only publicly accessible Underground Railroad location in Manhattan.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$992K
Contributions & grants$306K31%
Program service revenue$221K22%
Investment income$446K45%
Other revenue$19K
expenses
Total expenses$922K
Program expenses71%
Admin / overhead17%
Fundraising12%
Salaries & benefits$336K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$4.48M
Cash$39K
Investments$4.28M
Liabilities$44K
Net assets$4.44M
Liquid reserves56.3 mo
2 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue +73.3%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

paid leadership · 1
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
MARGARET GARDINER EXECUTUVE DIRECTOR 40 $183K
board members · 12
  • DEBORAH MCWILLIAMS — SECRETARY
  • EARL CRITTENDEN — BOARD MEMBER
  • ELIZABETH LUGAR — BOARD MEMBER
  • FRANCES EBERHART — BOARD MEMBER
  • HELEN BONBRAKE — BOARD MEMBER
  • JOHN ODEN — TREASURER
  • JOSEPH LOMBARDI — BOARD MEMBER
  • KATE OTTAVINO — BOARD MEMBER
  • MERRIKAY HALL — BOARD MEMBER
  • NICHOLAS NICHOLSON — CHAIRMAN
  • RICHARD SAMMONS — BOARD MEMBER
  • WILLIAM SOFIELD — BOARD MEMBER
relationships · 18

Who they work with

  • Action Network Partner — Collaborates with Action Network to host a petition to save the Merchant's House Museum.
  • Bloomberg Connects Partner — Provides a digital guide for visitors through the Bloomberg Connects app.
  • Community Board 2 Partner — Partnered to advocate for city acquisition of adjacent property to protect and expand museum operations
  • Dr. Lee Partner — Neuroscientist collaborating on paranormal research at the Merchant's House Museum.
  • Gracie Mansion Partner — Volunteers from the Merchant’s House Museum have visited Gracie Mansion, indicating a relationship or exchange between the two historic sites.
  • Historic House Trust Network — Member organization of the Historic House Trust.
  • Historic House Trust of New York City Network — Member organization joined in 1999 to ensure the preservation of the Merchant's House for future generations.
  • Landmarks Preservation Commission Government — Engages in ongoing regulatory and advocacy interactions regarding the protection of the Merchant’s House from adjacent development.
  • Landmarks Preservation Commission Government — Engages with the LPC through hearings and legal processes to oppose development threatening the Merchant's House
  • Matilda Garrido Partner — Thanatologist participating in the 'In the Spirit of Science' podcast and paranormal research discussions.
  • Merchant’s House Museum Network — OLD MERCHANTS HOUSE OF NEW YORK INC operates as the Merchant’s House Museum.
  • National Gallery of Art Partner — Partnered to document objects from the Merchant's House Museum collection in the Index of American Design.
  • National Park Service Government — Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark, both administered by the National Park Service.
  • New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Government — Received landmark status from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission for both exterior and interior.
  • NoHo community Partner — Collaborated with the NoHo community to honor the historical significance of Manuel Plaza and the early free Black settlement in New Amsterdam.
  • Sturges Paranormal Partner — Collaborates with paranormal investigator Dan Sturges on ghost tours and research.
  • The Decorators Club of New York City Partner — Partnered on the restoration and presentation of the Merchant's House Museum, including fundraising, furniture restoration, and reproduction of draperies and carpet.
  • Vincent Astor Foundation Funder — Provided a $1 million grant in 1997 to establish an endowment for the Museum's long-term financial security.
strategies · 3

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Evidence-Based Preservation Advocacy
    methodology: evidence_based_preservation_advocacy
    By using independent engineering studies and data on vibration risks, the organization advocates against damaging construction near the site, because empirical evidence strengthens public and regulatory recognition of invisible structural threats to fragile historic fabric.
  • Historic Preservation as Immersive Education
    methodology: immersive_historical_interpretation
    By preserving an intact 19th-century merchant-class home with original period rooms and furnishings, the organization provides an immersive historical experience that educates the public about domestic life, abolition, and urban development in 19th-century New York, because experiential authenticity deepens public understanding and engagement with social history.
  • Volunteer Engagement through Accessible Participation
    methodology: volunteer_engagement
    By offering modest time commitments and non-monetary benefits, the organization sustains volunteer involvement in operations and visitor experience, because lowering barriers to participation increases community investment and operational capacity.