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

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.

A team of Bowery Boys Walks guides take turns leading this tour, strolling up the avenue to visit the grand residences, see their exteriors, and hear stories of their designers and owners.

Please Note

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