The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum is an elegant mid-17th century mansion with manicured formal gardens and examples of 19th century decorative arts. The Museum sits on a splendid 9-acre public site and is nestled in a quiet area of the Pelham Bay Park. The enchanting gardens, mansion and carriage house represent a type of elegant country living that existed in the Pelham Bay region during the mid-19th Century. Using the Museum's historic collections and structures as references, visitors explore the social history of the people who lived and worked on the estate during this time period.

The mansion has a story as old as the city itself and begins in 1654 when Thomas Pell, an English doctor from Connecticut, bought the land from the Siwanoy Indians as part of a nearly 50,000-acre tract. The estate was reduced to 220 acres by the end of the Revolutionary War. It was bought in 1836 by Robert Bartow who built the present Grecian style stone mansion with Greek Revival interiors. He moved into the house with his wife and children in 1842. The Bartow-Pell Mansion opened as a museum in 1946.

The Bartow-Pell Mansion is owned by the City of New York Parks & Recreations, operated by the Bartow-Pell Conservancy and is a member of the Historic House Trust of New York City. A New York City Landmark, the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum is the last remaining country estate in New York. The museum welcomes several thousand visitors each year for group tours, school programs, strolls in the gardens and other specials events.